Clemson Men’s Basketball Team to Face Virginia Tech in Blacksburg Saturday Afternoon

Feb. 5, 2010

GAME SETUP Site: Blacksburg, VA Arena: Cassell Coliseum (9,847) Date: Saturday, February 6, 2010 Time/TV: 4:00 PM/Raycom Sports (Mike Hogewood, Dan Bonner) Radio: Clemson Tiger Radio Network (Pete Yanity, Tim Bourret) Officials: TBA *Note all stats and records for Virginia Tech are prior to Thursday night game vs. North Carolina

SERIES HISTORY Overall: Virginia Tech leads 11-10 at Blacksburg: Virginia Tech leads 6-5 at Clemson: Tied at 5-5 at Neutral: 0-0 First Meeting: 27-13, Virginia Tech, 1924-25 Last Game: Virginia Tech, 80-77 at Clemson in 2008-09 Last Clemson Win: 86-82 at Virginia Tech, 2008-09 Streak: Clemson won 4 of 5 and three in a row in Blacksburg; 8 straight in series decided by 5 points or less

QUICK FACTS Clemson Head Coach Oliver Purnell moved into second place on Clemson’s all-time coaching list in terms of wins over ACC teams when his Tigers beat Maryland, 62-53 last Sunday. It gave him 48 wins, one more than Bill Foster had in his Clemson coaching career. Cliff Ellis holds the record with 59 ACC wins in his 10 years in charge of the program.

Clemson and Virginia Tech have met eight times since the Hokies joined the ACC and all eight games have been decided by five points or less and Clemson has won five of the eight. The road team has won five of the last six, including both games last season.

Clemson has won three straight at Virginia Tech. It is tied for the second longest ACC road winning streak in Clemson history.

Clemson is 12th in the nation overall and first in the ACC in league games in 3-point percentage defense. Clemson is allowing just 28.7 percent overall and 22.7 percent in ACC games from long range.

Jerai Grant is coming off his best game as a Clemson Tiger. The junior center had 18 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Maryland. It was his first career double-double against an ACC team and his career high in both scoring and rebounding. He is now shooting .655 from the field this year and .605 for his career.

Trevor Booker needs just 19 rebounds to become the second player in Clemson history with 1500 points and 1000 rebounds. He has 981 career rebounds and will join Dale Davis when he collects 19 more caroms. The only active players in college basketball with at least 1500 points and 1000 rebounds are Luke Harangody of Notre Dame and Damion James of Texas.

Booker needs just one rebound Saturday to move past Horace Grant (Jerai’s uncle) into third place on Clemson’s career rebounding list. Entering Saturday, Booker and Grant both have 981. Booker has played 124 games and Grant played 122 between 1983-87.

Booker needs just 16 points to reach 1600 for his career. He enters Saturday’s game at Tech, tied for third in school history in rebounding, eighth in scoring, sixth in field goal percentage and fourth in blocked shots. Saturday will be his 125th consecutive start.

Clemson hopes to have Demontez Stitt back in the lineup Sunday. He missed the game at Boston College and the game with Maryland with a sprained foot, ending a streak of 52 straight starts.