Basketball Travels to Chapel Hill to Face Tar Heels

Feb. 3, 2006

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Clemson at North CarolinaFebruary 4, 2006

This Saturday’s game will be a homecoming for four currentClemson players who are from the Tar Heel state. Shawan Robinsonand Troy Mathis are both from Raleigh, K.C. Rivers is fromCharlotte and Julius Powell is from Newton. Robinson has scored indouble figures in three consecutive games, including a 22-pointperformance against NC State last Sunday. He currently ranks thirdin the nation in free throw shooting and his .932 season average ison a Clemson record pace. He has made 55-59 this year and hasconverted 14 in a row over two games. The .932 figure is on pace tobe the third best single season FT% in ACC history. He is 6th inClemson history for a career. Clemson has two leaders in ACC statcategories. Robinson leads the conference in free throw shootingand Vernon Hamilton leads the league in steals. Clemson heldFlorida State without a made threepoint goal in its most recentgame. It marked the first time in 316 games against ACC foes thatthe Tigers held the opposition without a three-point goal and thefirst time in any game since March 5, 1990 when South Carolina was0-4 from long range. Clemson has struggled from the foul line as ateam this year, but is coming off a 72.2 percent outing (13-18) atFlorida State. Clemson coach Oliver Purnell and North Carolinacoach Roy Williams were assistant coaches together under LarryBrown on the 2004 United States Olympic team. Both coaches are intheir 18th season as a head coach. Leonard Hamilton at FloridaState and Al Skinner at Boston College are also in their 18th yearsas head coaches. Clemson has forced 19.14 turnovers per game thisyear, second in the ACC and on pace to be the third best per gamefigure in Clemson history. Clemson’s 11.14 steals per game rankthird best in the nation and is on pace to be the best per gamefigure in Clemson history. Clemson has never defeated NorthCarolina in Chapel Hill. The streak stands at 51 in a row over atime period that dates to the 1925-26 season. A North Carolinavictory would tie the NCAA record for consecutive home wins in aseries. While Clemson has never won in the Smith Center, OliverPurnell has. He was an assistant coach under Lefty Driesell atMaryland when the Terps won in the facility in 1985-86. Clemson haswon 14 of its first 21 games, its best 21-game start since going17-4 in 1996-97. The 3- 5 conference start is its best througheight games since 1997-98. Clemson is 14-7, its best 21-game recordsince the 1996-97 season when Clemson was 17-4.