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Missouri-Clemson Preview

Mar 18, 2010 - 9:40 PM By JOHN KEKIS AP Sports Writer

Missouri (22-10) at Clemson (21-10), 2:35 p.m. EDT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Break out the oxygen masks: "The Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball" may be headed for warp speed.

"I think we'll need them," Clemson guard Demontez Stitt said Thursday as he contemplated facing Missouri in a first-round NCAA tournament matchup of Tigers who keep attacking at a frenetic pace no matter what.

"It'll be as fast as everybody thinks," Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said.

Clemson (21-10), the seventh seed in the East, is making its third straight NCAA tournament appearance and looking to give Purnell his breakthrough tournament triumph - he's winless in five previous trips with three schools. Missouri (22-10), the 10th seed, has won four straight opening-round games.

Both teams enter the game hoping to right what has gone wrong recently. Missouri was stunned 75-60 by 12th-seeded Nebraska in the Big 12 tournament, while Clemson lost by a basket to 11th-seeded North Carolina State in the first round of the ACC tournament.

"We had two losses. We didn't come to play," Missouri senior forward Keith Ramsey said. "We just come here and try to get some wins, play hard. We have been preparing since we lost to Nebraska."

A team can't score if it doesn't have the ball, and that's the philosophy of Missouri coach Mike Anderson. His Tigers are adept at playing keep away - their intense style has resulted in an average of nearly 11 steals a game, tops in the country and part of the 19.7 turnovers they force each time out.

Clemson isn't far behind with an average of 17.5 forced turnovers and 9.6 steals.

Between them, the teams' pressing defenses have combined for 649 steals, 350 by Missouri.

"From the outside view, when you watch us play, sometimes it looks a little helter skelter," Missouri senior guard Zaire Taylor said. "I think it's a little organized chaos going on, whereas when I watch them it seemed a little more organized in appearance. But both styles I feel are effective."

Clemson has a big ace inside with 6-foot-7, 240-pound senior Trevor Booker. He's the only player in ACC history with at least 1,500 points, 1,000 rebounds, 200 assists, 200 blocks and 100 steals.

Booker will start his 134th straight game for Clemson, which will break the school record for total games started that's currently held by Cliff Hammonds, and he desperately wants to experience that winning feeling in the tournament. Clemson has lost two straight first-round games as the higher seed: in 2008, as a No. 5 to No. 12 Villanova, and last year, as a No. 7 to No. 10 Michigan.

If he gets help from Clemson's outside shooters, Booker can be unstoppable, and if Clemson has a late lead he'll be the go-to guy to try to break open the game.

"I try to use my strength. I hustle, try to go harder than the other players," said Booker, who's averaging 15.3 points and 8.3 rebounds. "I know a lot of people say I'm undersized, but I just put that in the back of my mind and let it motivate me."

This isn't the Missouri team that advanced to the round of eight a year ago. Missouri lost 1,000-point scorers Matt Lawrence, DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons from last year's team, which won a school-record 31 games, and a season-ending knee injury to Justin Safford has hurt. Safford was having a nice season, averaging just over 10 points a game when he was hurt against Colorado, and Missouri has dropped three of four since.

"We've had some adversity. Hopefully, our depth will be a key to this game. Justin is one of our better players," said Anderson, who also has to worry about the torn ligaments in the left (non-shooting) wrist of Safford's replacement, Laurence Bowers. "Hopefully, guys can step up and contribute. They understand that the first game is the most important game."

There are a lot of players on both benches who will contribute - nine Clemson players average 11.4 minutes and 10 on Missouri average 9.9 minutes - so the pace of the game might not matter so much.

"The game is going to really come down to who wants it more," said Missouri guard J.T. Tiller, a standout defender with 159 career steals. "Tempo is not going to be a factor. It's who feels more comfortable down the stretch. We'll try to keep the anxiety level down so we play the way we always play."