Men’s Basketball Team to Face South Carolina State Saturday at Littlejohn Coliseum

Dec. 12, 2008

Game Setup Site: Littlejohn Coliseum (10,000) Date: Saturday, December 13, 2008 City: Clemson, SC Time: 2:00 PM TV: ACC Select (Dan Scott) Radio: Clemson Tiger Radio Network (Pete Yanity, Tim Bourret)

Series History Overall: Clemson leads 7-1 at Clemson: Clemson leads 6-1 at Littlejohn: Clemson leads 6-1 at SC State: Clemson leads 1-0 at Neutral: none played First Meeting: Clemson, 93-70, in 1988-89 Last Meeting: Clemson, 79-38, in 2005-06

Quick Facts Saturday’s game will be the ninth meeting between Clemson and South Carolina State. The Tigers hold a 7-1 advantage in the series. The Bulldogs won the 1999 meeting against Clemson.

In the most recent game against SC State, Sam Perry had 13 points and the Tigers forced 31 turnovers en route to a 79-38 win in 2005. K.C. Rivers, a freshman on that team, had nine points.

Clemson is off to a 9-0 start for the fourth straight season. In 2005, the Tigers were 11-0 prior to Christmas and finished with a 19-win season. In 2006, the Tigers were the last remaining unbeaten at 17-0. Last year, Clemson started 10-0 and eventually won 24 games and made it to the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers, one of just 15 unbeaten teams remaining in Division I, are #2 in the latest RPI and #7 in the latest computer ratings by Jeff Sagarin. Seven teams the Tigers have defeated currently rank in the top 100 of the RPI.

The Tigers have won their last two games in comeback fashion. On Dec. 2, Clemson overcame a 40-32 deficit at halftime to defeat Illinois on the road, 76-74. On Dec. 7, Liberty led 42-35 at halftime and by as much as 12 in the second half before the Tigers rallied for the 80-75 win.

K.C. Rivers matched his career-high with 32 points in the comeback win over Liberty. He scored the Tigers’ first 14 points of the second half and nine inside the final four minutes of the game. He also added 11 rebounds in his best all-around effort of the season.

Rivers ranks 13th in Clemson history in points scored with 1,354 entering Saturday’s game. He needs 12 points to move ahead of Stan Rome (1974- 78) into 12th place on the all-time list.

Terrence Oglesby has made at least one threepoint goal in 17 consecutive games, dating to the final portion of the 2007-08 season. He leads the ACC in three-point goals per game (2.7) and accuracy (.444).

Trevor Booker leads the ACC with 2.7 blocked shots per game. As a team, Clemson leads the ACC in blocks per game (7.0) and ranks seventh in the NCAA in the statistic as well.

Through nine games, Clemson is shooting at outstanding percentage from the field. The Tigers have made 50.4 percent of their attempts, which ranks 11th in the nation according to the latest statistics from the NCAA . Clemson has shot over 50 percent as a team in each of the last four games.

Over the last two games, Demontez Stitt has tallied 17 assists compared to just three turnovers. He had a career-high 11 assists in the Liberty win.