For 20th-ranked Clemson and unranked California, Saturday night’s clash between the teams at Berkeley, Ca. is a potential resume booster for both sides.
The Tigers (19-4, 9-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) enter the contest projected as a No. 6 seed by ESPN’s Bracketology and No. 32 in the latest KenPom rankings as of Thursday. Securing their 20th victory of the season would continue to solidify Clemson’s status as a tournament lock at the moment. A win at Cal (17-6, 5-5), which is ranked No. 55 in the NCAA’s latest NET rankings, would give the Tigers a Quad 1 victory.
Clemson has a No. 31 NET ranking as of Thursday, which would give the Golden Bears only a Quad 2 win if they win. But Cal could use it as it is currently considered a bubble team by most prognostications heading into its 11th conference game.
The Tigers are playing their second game on their ACC west coast swing, and coming off a 66-64 win at Stanford on Wednesday. The victory continued Clemson’s hot streak in recent weeks as the Tigers won their third in a row and for the 12th time in their past 13 games with the only defeat during that stretch coming in overtime, 80-76, at home against NC State on Jan. 20th.
California-native Nick Davidson led Clemson with 16 points on Wednesday, and shot 5 for 6 from the field while collecting seven rebounds.
“He handled it great,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “Not surprised that he played well and managed his emotions. He does have a lot of family here. I know he was excited for the trip, he and Blake Davidson both. I’m happy for him, though, that he played well.”
Davidson is the fourth-highest scorer on Clemson’s team (9.5 points per game) on a squad that has found balance on the offensive end with three players averaging double figures in scoring led by RJ Godfrey (11.8 points per game).
Cal, which has a No. 61 KenPom ranking as of Thursday, is also riding momentum heading into Saturday’s clash. The Golden Bears have won four of their past five games including a pair of wins by five points or fewer against Miami and Georgia Tech in their last two games.
Dai Dai Ames continues to pace the Golden Bears on the offensive end, averaging 17.7 points per game and Justin Pippen is averaging 15 points and a team-high 4.4 assists per game.
Cal has shown resilience of late despite some woes on the defensive end. The Golden Bears allowed Georgia Tech to shoot 48 percent and Miami to shoot 57 percent from the field, yet found a way to win both games despite allowing 85 points in each contest.
Ames finished with a career-high 29 points against Georgia Tech and hit four clutch free throws in the final minute.
“Dai Dai Ames has tremendous self-discipline,” Madsen said after the game. “So he’s a guy you can really trust. I knew it could go either way, but I knew the likelihood was he was going to have the composure and the discipline not to pick up that fifth foul. And he was great with that.”
