GAME SETUPCLEMSON (3-0, 0-0 ACC) vs. TEMPLE (1-2, 0-0 AAC)Tipoff: 8 p.m.Tickets: 843-953-2632Web: ESPN3 (Rich Hollenberg-pbp; Len Elmore-color)Radio: CTSN (Pete Yanity-pbp; Philip Sikes-color)
- Clemson and Temple meet for the first time since 2008, in the exact same tournament. The Tigers knocked off the Owls in the inaugural Charleston Classic championship game, 76-72.
- The winner of Thursday’s game takes on the winner of Davidson vs. Georgia in the second round on Friday.
- The Tigers are off to a 3-0 start this season, their first since 2010-11, Brad Brownell‘s first season at Clemson.
SERIES HISTORYCU Series W-L record: Temple leads 2-1Streak: Clemson won the last meeting (2008-09)
QUICK HITS
- Clemson and Temple played in the championship game of the inaugural Charleston Classic in 2008. Trevor Booker was named MVP after leading the Tigers to a hard fought 76-72 victory. The Tigers also beat Hofstra and TCU.
- The Tigers are coming off a 71-57 victory over archrival South Carolina on Sunday. It was the second straight win for Clemson over the Gamecocks, and its eighth in the last 10 meetings between the two programs.
- Clemson is ranked first or second in the ACC statistics in four important categories: scoring defense, field goal percentage defense, three-point percentage defense and blocked shots per game.
- The Tigers shot 92.3 percent (24-of-26) from the free throw line in their most recent game, a school record given a minimum of 25 attempts.
- K.J. McDaniels recorded the first 20-10-5 (Pts-Rebs-Blks) game by a Tiger since 2005, when Sharrod Ford achieved the feat at Maryland.
- Temple wing Dalton Pepper played against Clemson in the 2011 NCAA Tournament for West Virginia and had a pair of key steals late in the victory.