Tigers to Face West Virginia in NIT Championship Thursday Night

March 28, 2007

Clemson Basketball Statistics:

Complete Season Statistics | NIT-Game-Only Statistics

Team Notes:

*Clemson goes for its 26th win of the season on Thursday night against West Virginia. A victory over the Mountaineers would establish a school record for victories in a season. The win over Air Force tied the school record of 25 that was set in 1986-87. That Clemson team led by ACC Player of the Year Horace Grant finished with a 25-6 record.

*There have been many similarities between this Clemson team in that squad of 20 years ago. The other major comparison was a 17-0 start to the season. This Clemson team started 17-0 to tie the school record for consecutive wins at any point in a season.

*The victory over Air Force on Tuesday established a personal record for wins in a season for Oliver Purnell. It is his first 25-win season, breaking his personal record of 24 wins when he was at Dayton in 2002-03, his last year with the Flyers program.

*Clemson can move into second place all alone in terms of wins by ACC teams this year with a victory over West Virginia. North Carolina finished the year with a 31-7 record, while the Tigers and Maryland both have 25. Maryland finished the year with a 25-9 mark.

*Clemson will attempt to win its first postseason tournament of any kind against West Virginia in the NIT championship game. Clemson has never won the NIT or NCAA Tournament, but won the Southern Conference in 1939. That is Clemson’s only postseason tournament win of any kind in its history.

*West Virginia holds a 2-1 advantage in the series that dates to the 1951-52 season. The last meeting and Clemson’s only win in the series took place in the 1994 NIT. All three games in the series have been played in Morgantown.

*In fact, the first two games of the Clemson vs. West Virginia series were played on consecutive days in Morgantown, Feb. 22-23, 1952. A 12th ranked West Virginia team defeated Clemson 88-73 and 80-69 on those consecutive days. Those were the first two games in Clemson history against a top 20 team.

* The Tigers played one of their best games ever in postseason play in winning in Morgantown in the 1994 NIT. That was a second round game and Tigers were victorious, 96-79. Devin Gray led a balanced Clemson attack with 22 points. Gray shot 9-10 from the field, Clemson’s best ever field goal percentage in a post-season tournament game, while Corey Wallace made 5-5 three-point shots, Clemson’s best ever three-point shooting game in postseason play. As a team, Clemson shot 65.4 percent from the field (34-54), Clemson’s best ever field goal percentage in a post-season tournament game. Clemson also had a +22 rebound margin.

*The 1994 NIT win over West Virginia was the final victory for Cliff Ellis at Clemson. He had announced his resignation effective at the end of the season on January 6, 1994. Clemson lost its next game in the NIT quarterfinals at Vanderbilt.

*Clemson’s win over a 26-win Air Force game was its 13th victory this season over teams that have finished the year with at least 20 wins.

*Clemson is now 18-0 this year in non-conference games and will attempt to become the only school in the nation with a perfect non-conference record this year. Oregon had a perfect non-conference record entering the NCAA Tournament but the Ducks lost in the NCAAs in the national quarterfinals to Florida.

*Clemson is 10-20 lifetime against Big East teams. That includes a 74-70 win over Syracuse earlier in this tournament.

*Clemson now has nine wins away from home this year, six on the road and three at neutral sites. That is the most wins away from home since the 1996-97 season when the Tigers had 11, six on the road and five at neutral sites.

*With four straight wins in this NIT, this is already just the third time Clemson has won at least four postseason tournament victories of any kind in the same year. The 1939 Southern Conference team had to win four games to win that event in four consecutive days, while the 1999 Clemson team won four games before losing in the NIT championship to California, 61-60.

*This will be Clemson’s second appearance in the NIT championship, with the only previous appearance coming in that 1999 tournament. Clemson lost to California, 61-60 that year in the title game.

*Three-point shooting has been a big factor for Clemson in the NIT. The Tigers made 9-20 in the win over Air Force and have now made 18-39 in the last two NIT games for .462 from long range. Clemson is now 10-0 this season when it makes at least nine three-point goals.

*Clemson has made at least 40 percent from three-point range in each of its last three games, the first time Clemson has done that all year. In fact, Clemson has made at least 40 percent in five of the last six. Clemson has a 9-2 record when it shoots at least 40 percent from three-point range this year.

*In the four NIT games, Clemson is 31-80 from three-point range, .388. Clemson opponents are 19-71 for a .268 figure. Clemson has scored its first points in each NIT game with a made three-point goal, including three times by Cliff Hammonds.

*One of the biggest areas of improvement for Clemson in the NIT has been rebounding. Clemson was out-rebound by 5.0 per game in ACC play this year, but the Tigers have a +6.0 rebound margin for the four NIT games.

*Clemson now has an RPI of #29 after its win over Air Force. West Virginia enters the championship game with a #38 RPI. Clemson’s RPI is now higher than 14 teams who received at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. Clemson’s RPI was #46 on Selection Sunday, so the 4-0 run in the NIT has moved Clemson up 17 spots.

*All five Clemson starters are averaging in double figures this year and all five have clinched a double digit scoring average for the season regardless of what they do against West Virginia. This will be the first time since the 1969-70 season that the Tigers have had five players in double figures for the year. The same five are averaging in double figures in the NIT as well.

*Clemson is a combined 6-0 this year against the SEC, the Big Ten and the Big East. It is the first time Clemson has won a combined six games in the same year against those conferences.

*This is the first time Clemson has been the last ACC team still playing since the 1979-80 season when Clemson advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the only time in its history.

*The March 29 game with West Virginia is the latest Clemson has ever played a game on the calendar. Clemson’s November 10 start to the season against Arkansas State was the earliest in school history, so this is obviously the longest season Clemson history on the calendar.

*Clemson will play its 36th game of the 2006-07 season on Thursday. That will establish a school record for games in a season. The 1989-90 Clemson team played 35 games.

*Clemson is now 15-13 in the NIT in its history. Regardless of what happens Thursday, Clemson will enter next season with a winning record in the NIT and the NCAA Tournament in its history. Clemson is 8-7 all-time in the NCAA.

*Clemson has won 9 of its last 12 NIT games dating back to 1999.

Individual Player Notes:

*K.C. Rivers has been Clemson’s top scorer in the NIT with a 19.3 average. He has led Clemson in scoring in three of the four games, including the 19 points in the win over Air Force. He has made 13-32 three-point shots for a Ted Williams-like .406 three-point batting average.

*Clemson is now 13-1 this year when Rivers scores at least 16 points and 24-4 when he is in double figures.

*Cliff Hammonds has now made at least one three-point goal in 26 consecutive games and 34 of the 35 games this year. He has made 18 of his last 41 three-point shots (.439).

*Cliff Hammonds now has 1066 career points, just three less that all-time Clemson great Tree Rollins had at the end of his junior year.

*Thursday night’s game will be the 100th at Clemson for both Cliff Hammonds and Sam Perry.

*Vernon Hamilton had 11 points and eight assists on Tuesday evening. The assist total was the most by the Tiger senior all season. He now has 397 assists for his career and three more will make him the sixth player in Clemson history to get 400 assists.

*Hamilton has known West Virginia Head Coach John Beilein and his family for many years. Hamilton played high school basketball with Beilein’s son, Patrick, who went on to become a 1000-point scorer for the Mountaineers. He was a senior two seasons ago.

*Trevor Booker shot 6-8 from the field on Tuesday against Air Force and is now 20-33 from the field in the NIT, a .606 percentage. He is Clemson’s leader in field goal percentage for the year in the NIT. He has a .602 percentage for the season, second best in Clemson history for a freshman.

*David Potter has made a big shot in each of the last two Clemson NIT games. First he scored on a put-back to give Clemson a 69-66 lead with 28 seconds left in the win over Syracuse. Against Air Force he made just his seventh three-point goal of the year with two minutes left to give Clemson a 65-55 lead.