Men's Hoops Meets Clemson in Vegas
Nov 24 | Men's Basketball
| Rutgers vs. Clemson - Men Who Speak Up Main Event (Heavyweight Bracket) | |
| Date | Wednesday, November 23 |
| Time | 12:00 a.m. ET |
| Location | Las Vegas, Nev. | MGM Grand Garden Arena |
| Television | Youtube Live Steam |
| Radio | Rutgers IMG Radio Network - WOR (710) and WCTC (1450AM) Chris Carlin and Joe Boylan WRSU (88.7 FM) |
| Game Notes | Rutgers | Clemson | Main Event Tournament Info |
| Live Stats | Live Stats |
| Team Info | Online Media Guide |
| Statistics | Rutgers | Clemson | Big Ten Conference |
| Social Media | @RutgersMBB  | #RHoops | Facebook/RutgersMBB  |
Last Time Vs. Clemson -- Rutgers Earn 69-64 Win at Clemson, Dec. 1, 2014
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Rutgers (3-2) meets ACC member Clemson (3-1) in a 9 p.m. local (midnight ET) tip-off on Wednesday in the heavyweight bracket consolation game of the Men Who Speak Up Main Event at MGM Grand Garden Arena. It marks the fourth contest over a span of eight days for the Scarlet Knights, who earned home wins over Howard (82-70) and Central Arkansas (87-84) in the preliminary round of the Main Event before dropping an 85-75 decision to Creighton in Las Vegas on Monday night.
The game versus the Tigers will be streamed live on the web via the bd Global Youtube channel. On the radio, the contest will be broadcast live on the Rutgers IMG Sports Network, WOR 710 AM in New York and WCTC 1450 AM in New Brunswick. Chris Carlin will serve as play-by-play announcer and Joe Boylan will provide commentary. WRSU (88.7) will also broadcast the game.
Wednesday evening's game will mark the third meeting between Rutgers and Clemson on the collegiate hardwood with the series tied 1-1. Last season, in its first ever appearance in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, RU used a late run and four players in double figures to defeat CU 69-64 at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Scarlet Knights committed just three turnovers to complete their third game in four days and earn the hard-fought victory. It signaled the first time Rutgers had defeated an ACC opponent on its home floor while it was an active member of the league. The 16/3 assist-to-turnover ratio (5.3/1) by the Scarlet Knights was the best ever by a Clemson opponent and the three turnovers by RU tied for the fewest ever by a Tigers' foe. Clemson previously defeated Rutgers 78-69 on March 16, 1999 in a postseason NIT meeting at the RAC.
Despite a career-high 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting from freshman guard Corey Sanders who also added four assists and three steals, Rutgers fell 85-75 to the Blue Jays in the Main Event on Monday night. Senior guard Bishop Daniels made 7-of-11 FGAs to add 17 points off the bench, while junior forward Deshawn Freeman had 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds. The Scarlet Knights outshot Creighton in the first half, making 17-of-32 (53.1 percent) en route to a 43-40 halftime lead. The Blue Jays responded after the midpoint, however, shooting 50 percent both from the field (13-of-26) and from behind the arc (5-of-10), to outscore RU 45-32 in the second stanza.
The Scarlet Knights presently have four players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Freeman with 14.8 points-per-game. In its first five games, Rutgers has had four different players pace the team in scoring, with sophomore guard Mike Williams accomplishing the feat on two occasions.
Clemson, under the leadership of sixth-year head coach Brad Brownell, fell victim to a record-tying shooting performance by UMass in an 82-65 loss on Monday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The Minutemen matched a school record by draining 16 three-pointers and outscored the Tigers by 30 points from long distance. The 16 threes were fourth-most in a game by a Clemson opponent, and most against the Tigers since Wake Forest made 19 in a triple overtime contest in 2002. Three UMass players combined to post 71 of its 82 points. Clemson was led by redshirt juniors Jaron Blossomgame and Avry Holmes with 18 points apiece. Blossomgame is shooting 60.5 percent (26-of-43) to average a team-best 17.3 points.
