Clemson vs Arizona prediction, picks in Sweet 16 bracket: Who advances to Elite Eight?

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LOS ANGELES — Clemson basketball narrowly escaped No. 3 seed Baylor in its 72-64 win Sunday at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee, to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.

After losing in the ACC tournament second round to Boston College, the sixth-seeded Tigers (23-11) used the defeat to fuel their March Madness run, beating No. 11 seed New Mexico and the Bears, and will look to take care of No. 2 seed Arizona Thursday (7:09 p.m. ET, CBS) at Crytpto.com Arena.

“We had a quiet confidence about us coming here,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said Sunday. “The loss probably helped a little bit because it allowed me to get their attention after losing like that.”

Meanwhile, the Wildcats (27-8) finished with the best regular-season in the Pac-12 and are coming off an 85-65 win against No. 15 seed Long Beach State and a 78-68 victory against No. 7 seed Dayton.

Here are three things to know, the betting lines and a score prediction for this matchup:

Clemson basketball makes Sweet 16 for the fifth time in school history

The Tigers carried over their momentum from the first round and put on a show against Baylor for most of the game. Their offense was dynamic, building an early 10-point lead then a 61-46 lead with 6:41 remaining in the contest. Defensively, Clemson held the Bears, a team that made 16 3-pointers in the first round, to six 3-pointers.

Clemson nearly squandered the game in the final minutes, missing every field-goal attempt after building the 15-point lead and Baylor going on a 20-5 run. Ja’Kobe Walter missed two late free throws that would have tied the contest, but it led to the Tigers icing the game.

“There were times in this game where they started coming back,” Clemson guard Hunter said. “We made sure we got a stop when we needed it.”

Can PJ Hall stay out of foul trouble?

Hall has battled foul trouble in his first two NCAA Tournament games, finishing with four in 19 minutes against New Mexico and fouling out in 20 minutes against…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/clemson-vs-arizona-prediction-picks-092643468.html

Author : Greenville News

Publish date : 2024-03-26 09:26:43

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