Tigers Open ACC Play vs. North Carolina

GAME SETUP

Clemson (8-4, 0-0 ACC) vs. North Carolina (10-3, 0-0 ACC)

Date: Saturday, Jan. 3

Tipoff: 8:15 p.m. ET

Arena: Littlejohn Coliseum (10,000)

Radio: CTSN (Tony Castricone-pbp; Tim Bourret-color)

TV: ESPN (Dave O’Brien-pbp; Doris Burke-color)

Tickets: 1-800-CLEMSON or ClemsonTigers.com

• Clemson and North Carolina open the ACC regular season against one another for the first time since 2007-08.

• The Tiger program has 13 wins over top-20 Tar Heel teams in its history; UNC is ranked No. 19 in the latest AP poll.

• Clemson’s most recent win in the series was on Jan. 13, 2010, an 83-64 victory over a 12th-ranked UNC team at the time. Brad Brownell is in search of his first victory over the Tar Heels.

SERIES HISTORY

CU Series W-L record: North Carolina leads 128-20

Streak: North Carolina has won six straight meetings 

QUICK HITS

• Clemson has defeated six ranked foes in ACC home openers.

• The Tigers are in search of their third top-30 RPI win of the season, owning victories over LSU (22) and Arkansas (27) already. North Carolina is No. 24 in the latest RPI released by the NCAA.

• A win Saturday would be Brad Brownell’s 250th as a head coach.

• In the ACC era (1953-present), Brownell is the only Clemson coach with a winning record in the month of January (18-13 overall). He is the 10th different coach at Clemson in that time frame.

• Saturday’s game is Clemson’s first of four this season against a team led by a Naismith Hall of Fame coach.

• Jaron Blossomgame is coming off a fifth double-double this season, which ties for the ACC lead. He posted 16 points and 12 rebounds vs. Robert Morris.

• Rod Hall has 329 career assists and needs two to pass David Young for 14th in Clemson history and seven to pass Marion Cash for 13th.