Clemson will look to continue its sterling play on its home court over the last two seasons on Monday night when the Tigers play host to Bryant.
Clemson is 13-1 at Littlejohn Coliseum since the start of the 2020-21 season.
The Tigers have opened the season by topping two in-state opponents. Clemson overcame an 11-point deficit to defeat Presbyterian in its season opener last Tuesday, 64-53, then broke away from a tie game against Wofford with a late 10-2 run to knock off the Terriers 76-68 on Friday.
Clemson head coach Brad Brownell has been pleased by the level of student support the Tigers have received so far.
“The students have been great for both games and we need them on Monday,” said Brownell, who guided the Tigers to a 16-8 record and their third NCAA Tournament appearance in 11 seasons last year. “We have three games with students, then we’re kind of on the road and no games for a while. Their energy level was great and we’re very appreciative of the turnout.”
Al-Amir Dawes leads Clemson with a 17.0 scoring average while PJ Hall is contributing 14 points and eight rebounds per game.
Bryant (1-1) opened its season by routing Fisher122-54, but suffered an 83-64 defeat at the hands of Rhode Island on Friday in the second round of the Sunshine Slam in Kingston, R.I.
The Bulldogs were tabbed for a second-place finish in the Northeast Conference preseason poll after finishing second last season and advancing to the conference title game.
“For us it’s about getting better every day,” Bryant head coach Jared Grasso said. “I’d love to see us play our best basketball in March and put ourselves in position to win the championship. I think we have the pieces to do it. We just have to keep improving night in and night out.”
Senior Peter Kiss, who was selected to the preseason All-Northeast Conference team, has yet to play this season, with no public explanation from Grasso to this point.
Taking up the slack has been Charles Pride, who has scored 25 points in each of the Bulldogs’ first two games.
–Field Level Media
