Clemson is hoping to reach the Elite Eight for just the second time in school history this weekend. Beyond that, they’ve never been to the Final Four. To get there, they’ll first have to get past No. 2 seed Arizona in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament Thursday at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center).
Tipoff is scheduled for 7:09 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised by CBS.
The sixth-seeded Tigers (23-11 overall) dominated New Mexico, 77-56, in the opening round of the tournament on Friday in Memphis, and they followed it up with a white-knuckle victory over No. 3 seed Baylor.
Clemson led by as many as 15 in the second half against Baylor and sank all six foul shots in the final 30 seconds to hold on for a 72-65 victory, marking the program’s first Sweet 16 appearance since 2018.
Things don’t figure to be any easier against Arizona (27-8). The Wildcats had been considered a likely No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament before some late-season struggles. They won the regular season Pac-12 championship before stumbling in the conference tournament against Oregon.
Thus far in the Dance, coach Tommy Lloyd’s Wildcats have looked every bit the part of a top seed. They beat No. 15 seed Long Beach State by 20, then got 19 points in 35 minutes from Caleb Love in a 78-68 victory over Dayton. Keshad Johnson and Pelle Larson had 13 points in the win against Dayton.
Love, who was awarded the 2023-24 Pac-12 Player of the Year award, led Arizona in scoring this season with an average of 20 points per game in conference play. Love reached the NCAA championship game two years ago when he was with North Carolina.
Larsson and center Oumar Ballo both average 13 points a night for the Wildcats. Ballo averages 11 rebounds per game, which was good for second in the Pac-12. Love, Johnson, Larson and Bello have played in all 35 games this season for Arizona.
For Clemson, senior guard Chase Hunter is playing his best basketball at just the right time. Hunter scored a team-high 20 points against Baylor on 5-of-10 shooting, two days after totaling 21 points on 8-of-16 shots against New Mexico.
PJ Hall has led the Tigers in scoring all season and averages 18.5 points per game. Joe Girard averages 15 a night for Clemson while Ian Schieffelin, the ACC’s Most Improved Player for 2023-24, leads the team with 9.5 rebounds a night. Schieffelin finished in double figures against both New Mexico and Baylor.
Series Notes and History
Thursday’s game will mark just the fourth all-time meeting between Clemson and Arizona. The Wildcats won all three previous meetings. The teams first met on March 18, 1989 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Boise, Idaho, a 94-68 Arizona victory. They met in back to back years in 2011 and 2012 as part of a home-and-home series. Arizona defeated Clemson, 66-54, in 2012.
Where To Watch
Here’s where Clemson fans can watch, stream and listen to Thursday’s NCAA Tournament game against Arizona.
Date: Thursday, March 28
Time: 7:09 p.m. EST
Where: Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center)
TV: CBS
Live Stream: Paramount+
Radio: Clemson Athletic Network | Westwood One Sports (national broadcast) | TuneIn App | Varsity App | SiriusXM (Channel 201)
Broadcast Teams
CBS: Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Jim Jackson (analyst), Allie LaForce (sideline)
Clemson Radio: Don Munson, JD Powell
Westwood One Sports: Spero Dedes, Austin Croshere