Tigers to Play Host to Purdue Tuesday Night in Big Ten/ACC Challenge

Nov. 26, 2007

Complete Clemson Men’s Basketball Notes

Series Notes Overall: Clemson leads 2-1 at Clemson: Clemson leads 1-0 at Purdue: Tied at 1-1 at Littlejohn: Clemson leads 1-0 at Neutral: None First Meeting: Clemson 72-66 at Clemson in 1971-72 Last Meeting: Purdue 76-64 at Purdue in 2003-04

Quick Facts • Clemson has a 6-2 record in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and has won three straight games in the event. The last loss was at Purdue, 76-64 in 2003, Oliver Purnell’s first year at Clemson.

• Clemson’s 6-2 record is third best among the 23 teams who have competed in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Duke has an 8-0 record and Wake Forest is 6-1. Purdue is 2-4 in its previous Big Ten/ACC Challenges.

• The 9:30 PM start to Tuesday night’s game is the latest for a home game in Clemson history.

• James Mays, will not play in Tuesday night’s game due to a hip injury. He suffered the injury with 11:48 left in the game against Gardner Webb. He is first in the ACC in steals, tied for fifth in the league in rebounds.

• Last year, James Mays and Trevor Booker tied for the team lead in rebounds with 232. Through five games this year they both have 43 rebounds to tie for the team lead.

• Both Purdue and Clemson have been outstanding in terms of turnover margin so far this year. Clemson has a +7.0 margin, second best in the ACC, while Purdue has a +14.3 turnover margin in its three wins.

• Clemson has a 2-1 lead in the series with Purdue. The first two games were overtime wins for the Tigers in 1971-72 at Clemson and in 1973-74 at Purdue. Purdue won the last meeting by a 76-64 score at Purdue in 2003-04.

• Clemson freshmen Terrence Oglesby, Demontez Stitt and Jerai Grant have combined to average 20.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game through the first five games. They have certainly enhanced Clemson’s free throw shooting as the group is 31-39 from the line, 79.5 percent.

• Clemson has 70 steals in just five games, an average of 14 steals per game.

• Cliff Hammonds was Clemson’s top scorer in the win over Gardner Webb with 16 points, including a season best 5-7 on three-point shots. He is currently second in the ACC in assist/turnover ratio with a 20/6 ratio and has 13 steals against just three fouls.

• Hammonds has scored in double figures in each of his previous three Big Ten/ACC Challenge games. he has 36 points, shot 14-28 from the field, 7-17 on 3-point shots and has a 13/3 assist/turnover ratio.

• This is the second game for the Tigers against a 2007 NCAA Tournament team. The Tigers beat Old Dominion on November 18. Purdue reached the second round in 2007 and had a 22-12 record.

• Clemson has a 23-1 record in the month of November under Oliver Purnell’s and has won 18 games in a row. Clemson is 86-15 all-time in November.