Clemson is back at Littlejohn Coliseum on Friday night with a chance to keep its early-season momentum rolling after a convincing 85-72 win over Stetson on Tuesday. The Tigers got that first victory behind strong showings from Dylan Faulkner and Ace Buckner, and now they’ll face an American team that comes in at 0-1 and looking for its first Power Four win under fourth-year coach Duane Simpkins.
The numbers lean heavily toward Clemson. DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Tigers as 15.5-point favorites, with the over/under set at 141.5 points.
ESPN’s FPI gives Clemson a 94.6% chance to win. A victory would also put Clemson on track for its fourth straight 2-0 start.
American arrives with some real continuity, which is part of why the Eagles were the unanimous preseason pick to win the Patriot League. The program did not bring in any transfers, instead keeping 86% of last season’s minutes. That matters for a team that finished 9-9 in league play a year ago, even if it went just 1-5 in games decided by five points or fewer.
The player Clemson has to account for first is sophomore guard Madden Collins. He’s the Eagles’ clear go-to scorer, and his 20-point performance on Monday only reinforced that. Collins likes to get downhill and attack off the dribble, especially in pick-and-roll action, which puts a premium on Clemson’s defensive discipline.
American also has enough shooting to make life uncomfortable if the Tigers lose track of cutters and relocations around the arc. In the opener against Cincinnati, the Eagles stayed within two at halftime by leaning on the three, with 21 of their 33 points coming from beyond the line. That kind of spacing is a big reason they were able to hang around against a well-coached opponent.
Julen Iturbe is another name worth watching. The Greenville native scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds against Cincinnati, and he could be in line for a bigger showing back in South Carolina.
Defensively, American leans on drop coverage in the pick-and-roll, which sets up an interesting matchup against Clemson’s frontcourt. Eric Michaels is the main interior defender to know.
He’s listed at 6-foot-9, but his length and shot-blocking show up on film. That could make shot fakes a useful tool for Dylan Faulkner, David Fuchs, and Trent Steinour if they’re trying to create cleaner looks around the rim.
Simpkins has also made it clear he expects Collins to bring effort on that end of the floor. “Madden has] really bought in on the defensive end,” Simpkins told the Field of 68 in the preseason.
“That's the thing that kept him off the court last year. I was not going to sabotage our culture and the things that I say we’re about on the defensive end.
I don’t care how good you are on the offensive end. If you can’t do what you need to do on every single possession - or at least have the intentionality to do it - then there’s no way that you’re going to start.
But he’s so much better now.”
For Clemson, this looks like a solid early measuring stick. American is likely to land as a Quad 4 opponent, though it could climb to Quad 3 if it lives up to its preseason billing. The Tigers should again have chances to work through Faulkner and Fuchs, just as they did against Stetson, but this matchup may also give Clemson’s wings more room to make an impact against an American defense that has some vulnerability on the perimeter.
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