NCAA basketball on Tuesday night and we will see the Clemson Tigers take on the SMU Mustangs in the semifinals of the NIT Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York. The game has a start time of 7:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN 2 . Vegas odds have the Mustangs listed as 3 point favorites, while the total sits at 119.
Stat Pack: The Clemson Tigers got to this game by beating Georgia State, Illinois and Belmont. The three wins now have them at 23-12 on the year, while going 3-2 in neutral court games. The Tigers are led by a defense that ranks 4th in points allowed (58.2 ppg), 14th in defensive FG% overall (39.3%) and 1st in the nation at defending the three ball (28.4%). Offensively, this team is not that good, as they rank 318th in the nation in scoring (63.7 ppg), 269th in FG% overall (42.5%) and 321st in 3-point shooting (30.7%). They are, however, 33rd in the nation in FT shooting (74.2%). The team is led by KJ McDaniels, who leads them in scoring (17.2 ppg), rebounding (7.1) and blocked shots (94). He is the only player on the team to average in double figures in scoring, with Rod Hall checking in at 2nd with a 9.4 ppg average.
As for the SMU Mustangs, they took care of UC Irvine, LSU and California to reach this semifinal game. The Mustangs now stand at 25-9 on the year overall and have gone 4-2 on neutral courts this year. The SMU Mustangs are a team that is built on a stifling defense, as they come in ranked 24th in the nation in points allowed (62.3 ppg), 6th in defensive FG% (38.2%) and 55th in 3 point defense (31.9%). Now this team isn’t all about defense, as they average 71.4 ppg (164th), while being a very good shooting team, as they connect on 48.4% of their shots overall (19th) and 38.2% from long range (44th). The offense is led by Nic Moore, who averages 13.5 ppg, while Markus Kennedy leads the team in rebounding (7.0 rpg) and is the only other Mustang that averages in double figures (12.2 ppg).
Pick: Let's break a tendency and go with the Over in this one. Both teams play excellent defense and Clemson loves to slow the pace, but these teams have also been playing higher scoring games than normal of late. Clemson's last 5 games have averaged 128.6 ppg, while their games on neutral courts have put up 129.2 ppg on the year. SMU's last 5 games have averaged 131.6 ppg, while their neutral site games have averaged 131.8 ppg for the year. Clemson has averaged 68.8 ppg on neutral courts this year, while SMU has averaged 70 ppg on those courts. I just see a bit more scoring here, especially late as there is no tomorrow for these teams so fouling at the end should be plentiful. I look for at least 125 points in this one.
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