Irish set sights on Tigers in season finale

Mar 7, 2015 - 4:08 PM South Bend, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - After a Wednesday night rout of Louisville, the 12th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish will try to close out the regular season on a high note as they play host to the Clemson Tigers in an ACC clash at Purcell Pavilion.

Notre Dame, which has already locked up a double-bye in the conference tournament, took on Louisville Wednesday night and handed the shorthanded Cardinals a 71-59 loss. The Irish have won four of their last five and are now 13-4 against ACC competition. At home, Notre Dame is a strong 16-2.

Clemson will be trying to bounce back from a home loss to NC State, 66-61, on Tuesday. The Tigers have dropped three of their last four games to fall to 8-9 against conference competition, and will have to try and forget their 3-6 record on the road in this clash.

This contest between Clemson and Notre Dame represents only the third all-time meeting between the sides. Notre Dame won the initial meeting in South Bend last year in double-overtime, and narrowly escaped the Tigers earlier this season in a 60-58 battle in South Carolina to earn a 2-0 series edge.

Clemson suffered through a dismal offensive performance against NC State on Tuesday. The Tigers connected on a mere 29.9 percent of their shots from the field, which included a 5-of-20 mark from 3-point distance. Meanwhile NC State hit on 37 percent of their attempts in the game, and was able to make 23 of their 32 tries from the free-throw line to pad the lead. Gabe DeVoe scored 18 points off the bench to pace Clemson, while Donte Grantham netted 12 points with six rebounds. Jaron Blossomgame pulled down a team-best 10 boards in the defeat.

Blossomgame may have been off his mark a bit on Tuesday in terms of offense (2-of-12 shooting for six points), but he still leads the way with 12.8 ppg on 47.5 percent shooting from the floor, and his 8.1 rpg is the best on the team as well. He's the only Clemson player averaging a scoring figure in double digits this season, although Grantham (9.1 ppg) isn't too far off the pace. Rod Hall has dished out a team-leading 101 assists on the year, and his 26 steals tie Grantham for the top spot on the team. The Tigers as a unit are netting 62.2 ppg on 40.9 percent shooting, and the team's strong defense limits opponents to 61.0 ppg - third best in the ACC.

Louisville is clearly struggling after dismissing Chris Jones from the team after his off-the-court legal issues. The Cardinals still possess strong offensive pieces, but without Jones, who was also a talented defender, Louisville may be in trouble. Notre Dame was able to connect on 53.5 percent of its field-goal tries in the win, and the Irish also added a 20-of-25 mark from the free-throw line to give them an additional advantage. Demetrius Jackson scored 21 points to lead the way for Notre Dame, adding in five rebounds and four steals. Bonzie Colson chipped in with 17 points and nine rebounds, and Jerian Grant netted 12 with seven assists. Steve Vasturia contributed 10 points, as the Irish pounded the Cardinals in Louisville.

Grant's unbelievable season continues for the Fighting Irish. The extremely athletic guard leads the team in scoring with 16.7 ppg, which ranks fifth in the ACC, and adds in a team and conference-best 6.6 apg with 1.8 spg. He's the main cog in an offensive machine churning out 78.8 ppg, which is second only to Duke in the ACC. Pat Connaughton chips in 12.8 ppg with a team-high 7.9 rpg, Jackson adds 12.5 ppg and Zach Auguste contributes 12.2 ppg for the Irish, who are shooting a whopping 50.9 percent from the floor this season, which ranks second in the nation. Defensively, UND is holding opponents to 65.2 ppg on 42.5 percent shooting.