Nebraska Basketball: Clemson is a statement game for the Huskers

Nebraska basketball wants to prove it should be an NCAA tournament team this season and beating Clemson Monday would go a long way towards doing that.

There are few things better about early-season college basketball than the Big Ten-ACC Challenge and tonight, the Nebraska basketball team gets to help kick it off with a showdown against Clemson.

The Huskers will travel to Littlejohn Coliseum to take on the 16th-ranked Clemson Tigers in a critical road contest for Nebraska basketball, one that gives NU a chance to impress the NCAA selection committee, with a win that would certainly look good on the resume.

Nebraska is fresh off a win over Western Illinois Saturday, however, in the previous game before that, the Huskers were beaten soundly by Texas Tech at a neutral site. Clemson, which lost to Creighton 87-82 in its last outing, is also looking for a quality non-conference win, something it doesn’t have yet.

The Tigers have beaten Georgia, yet the Bulldogs rank outside the top 100 of the Kenpom rankings. Nebraska, on the other hand, is 31st in those same rankings. Clemson is 24th, which sets up an interesting matchup.

Of course, the Tigers will have the advantage of playing at home. Littlejohn is one of the toughest gyms in the country to get a road win and the Huskers will have truly achieved something if they come out on top tonight (6:00 CST, ESPN2 or the ESPN App).

Like Nebraska, Clemson is a veteran team and is led by two very talented guards. The leading scorer is Marcquise Reed who is averaging 19.8 PPG. However, he shoots less than 30 percent from 3-point range. Shelton Mitchell is another dangerous scorer (14.7 PPG) but he is another guy that doesn’t rely a ton on 3-point shots.

In 3-pointers made, 3-pointers attempted and 3-point percentage, Clemson ranks 188, 201 and 171st, so unlike Nebraska, the Tigers want to attack the basket and win with their athleticism.

In the past, that would have probably been too much for any Nebraska team to deal with, however, this is a skilled group with James Palmer, Glynn Watson Jr. Isaiah Roby and Isaac Copeland. These guys can shoot, defend and are versatile.

Nebraska’s defense, which was exploited a little in giving up 73 points to Texas Tech, will be the key tonight. The other key is going to be hitting shots from deep but also not taking too many. The Huskers are making 60 percent of their 2-point shots, which is 14th in the country. However, from beyond the arc, Nebraska is shooting just 32.9 percent, which is 200th.

The bottom line is that Nebraska is going to have to put together a great game defensively while getting big efforts on the other end from Palmer and Watson. If those guys get it going and the defense is on point, Nebraska can steal this game.

And at the same time, it can send a statement to the NCAA selection committee, which will be looking at this game in March, even though it’s only November.