Williams Arena – Minneapolis, MN
Tip-off: Monday, 9:00 p.m. ET
Line: Minnesota -1.5

Minnesota hosts Clemson on Monday night as part of the annual ACC-B1G challenge.

Monday night will be the second time, since the inception of the ACC-B1G Challenge in 1999, that Clemson and Minnesota square off. In 2006, Clemson came into Williams Arena and walloped the Golden Gophers, 90-68. Minnesota returns to the friendly confines of the home court they call “The Barn” after going 2-2 in the Puerto Rico Tipoff (0-4 ATS). Coach Richard Pitino’s Golden Gophers salvaged closer-than-expected wins over Missouri State in the opening round, and then Nebraska-Omaha in the consolation bracket, while losing to Temple and Texas Tech. Minnesota was a favorite in three of the four games, while their loss against Temple had both teams at PK. Clemson has opened the season 4-1 (2-1 ATS) under coach Brad Brownell, flying through the gate with easy home wins over NC Central, Texas-San Antonio, and Texas Southern, before meeting resistance in the form of a hot-shooting UMass squad that defeated the Tigers last Monday in Las Vegas. Clemson rebounded to defeat Rutgers last Wednesday in the consolation game of the Main Event Tournament at the MGM Grand. Historically, the ACC leads the “challenge” that pits these two conferences together, 10-4-2. Last season’s challenge was won by the B1G, 8-6. This will be Clemson’s first true road game of the season, as the Tigers were 3-7 (4-6 ATS) away from home last season. Minnesota is 2-6 ATS in their last eight home games, while Clemson is 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games versus the Big Ten. Minnesota has won four consecutive ACC-B1G challenge games and 46 consecutive non-conference games at Williams Arena.

Minnesota looks to put their early-season home dominance to the test this season, when coach Richard Pitino matches his frenetic-paced Golden Gophers against a slow-down Clemson squad that wants to keep the game in the sixties (or lower). Pitino knows, easier said than done, that Clemson will have a tough time mounting a comeback if the Gophers can shoot over the top of the defense from the perimeter, as Massachusetts successfully did. 6’9” F Joey King (17.2 PPG, 57% 3PT) will be well-armed to lead Minnesota from the perimeter, as he’s hit four three pointers in three of his first six games. King’s scoring average has almost doubled from last season. However, King has struggled from behind the arc in the Golden Gophers’ two losses against better competition (3-11 3PT). Minnesota’s biggest issue is rebounding, as they’ve lost the battle on the glass in all six contests this season. Clemson’s stellar front line will offer no relief in sight, as the Golden Gophers’ leading rebounder is F Jordan Murphy (6.8 PPG, 5.2 RPG), a freshman who comes off the bench and stands at just 6’6”. 6’11” C Bakary Konate (7.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG) did just contribute a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds in the Golden Gophers’ 93-90 win on Friday at home against Nebraska-Omaha. Coach Pitino’s pressure defense, emulating the one his father, Rick, has made famous, will rely on G Nate Mason (12.3 PPG, 4.7 APG) and G Carlos Morris (12.8 PPG, 5 RPG) to speed up the pace against the patient Tigers. While Minnesota will look to create offense off of turnovers, Clemson has only committed 10+ turnovers two times this season, while the Gophers usually like to get their opponents to give it away with numbers in the teens. Minnesota will need King, Morris, and Mason and company to get out in front of Clemson and use their perimeter firepower and home court advantage to make the Tigers offense come from behind.

While the numbers for opponents at Williams Arena don’t look pretty, this is a solid matchup for Clemson on paper against a woeful defensive frontline. Clemson most recently ripped up an opponent that was similarly undermanned upfront, in defeating Rutgers 76-58 on Wednesday (covering -12.5). Coach Brownell’s squad outrebounded the Scarlet Knights 36-25, as they’ve done to four of their five opponents this season. The Tigers also shot 51% from the field, as they’ve gone north of 50% in three of their five contests. As mentioned earlier, Clemson’s only hiccup was taking it on the chin from Massachusetts, 82-65, as the Minutemen rained down 16 threes (16-31) en route to an 82-65 win. Clemson hit the offensive glass hard (11 OReb) in that contest, but it wasn’t enough to pull out the victory. In Clemson’s four victories, its opponents haven’t broken 58 points or shot better than 31% from three. While not putting up eye-popping numbers, G Jordan Roper (7.2 PPG, 4 APG) has stepped up as a de-facto point guard. Roper, normally known as a shoot-first player, has turned it over only once all season (against 20 assists) and above all else, this is a stat that coach Brownell must be ecstatic over. How the Tigers fare against Minnesota’s pressure, and whether they can keep the pace in their favor while taking advantage of the Golden Gophers’ aggressiveness, will play a key factor in the result tonight. Up front, Clemson holds a clear advantage, and will look to F Jaron Blossomgame (18.2 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 61% FG), F Donte Grantham (13.6 PPG, 51% FG), and C Landry Nnoko (9.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 3 BPG) to dominate – as they did in going 22-31 FG versus Rutgers. Clemson doesn’t boast great accuracy beyond the arc, but Grantham does have inside-out ability, hitting 39% from deep (2.2 3PM). The Tigers will assuredly look to keep the good times rolling in the paint with those aforementioned three big men before feeling the necessity to start launching from beyond the arc.