March 24, 2024 • 60 mins
Tthe Tigers advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with their victory over New Mexico! Now, they look to continue their run and advance to the Sweet 16, as they gear up to face down the Bears in tonight's matchup! As always, John and Rich preview today's game, and set the scene with interviews, clips from the players, and more!
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W E. S. E FM. Greenville, Spartanburg, Andersen.
Time for the Ingles Countdown to tipOff Show, brought to you pie Ingles
Markets, Low prices, Love theSavings, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, Harley
Davidson of Greenville, Rare Flooring Center, the Surgery Center at Pella McGhee,
eating an air hand by Palmeadow StateArmory. Now Here are your hosts,
(00:30):
John Alism Richmond Weaver well who willstamp their ticket to the Sweet sixteen?
Will it be the Baylor Bears oryour Clemson Tigers who take on this Baylor
team today the three seed out ofthe region, Clemson the sixth seed.
This is the Ingles Countdown to tipOff Show, getting you ready for another
big day of March Madness. Gamesare underway, Games will continue to be
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underway. We're going to go throughour brackets here and embarrass ourselves a little
bit as always. Richmond Weaver joinsme here. Rich how Bud Oh doing
absolutely fantastic on a Sunday evening afternoon. I should say, as we're going
to be tipping off in the evening, but how can you ask for anything
better? I mean, it's sunshine, it's college basketball. And I have
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been living and breathing college basketball sinceThursday. I have not had much sleep,
but that's okay. I survive.Managed late games have been great,
man. But although I would haveto say again, I'm trying to do
my best years ago. No problemfor me to stay up and watch a
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game like Creighton had last all right, going to double overtime. But these
days I can't do it. Can'tdo it. I can't do it.
And I love that we have basketballall day, but I'm almost to the
point of, hey, let's goahead and start tipping off like at ten
thirty in the morning. Yeah,I'm with us. They did play a
game on Saturday local time. Itwas at ten forty five Arizona there in
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Salt Lakes. It was a brunchbas it was a brunch, So why
not go ahead and do that onthe East Coast. So then on the
East Coast games, instead of tippingoff at nine to forty or ten thirty,
we can tip off about eight thirty. That'd be much better. Get
your coffee ready for tonight because Yaletakes on San Diego State in the East
Region at nine forty that's a latenight tip off as well. As another
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late night game with big implications.Texas A and M the number nine seed
out of the South taking on mypersonal pick to win it all. Houston
the one seed out of the outof the South region. So there you
go. A lot of activity rightnow. We can tell you that Purdue
is on a tear. This gamewas close for about ten minutes. Richmond
and Zach Edy is just unreal.This is the first real game I've sat
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down all year and watched a fullforty minutes of Zach Edy. We'll get
to Clemson in a minute, buthe is unbelievable. Eighty six to forty
eight with about seven minutes to go. Yeah, and it was there the
last seven minutes of the first halfthat Purdue just pulled away and they just
couldn't stop Zach Edy. And hehad a double double there in the first
half and potentially was on his wayto a triple double there in the first
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half if Purdue could have hit someearly shots, he had opportunities for more
assists. He had three assists therein the first half, and he could
have had at least seven or eightif Purdue would have made some early shots
there at the beginning of the game. But again, when you're that size
seven to four and there's rumors it'sunsubstantiated at this point, but there are
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rumors out there that he has grownthis year. That's crazy. Yes,
exactly, that's right. That iscrazy because obviously you're looking at him saying,
oh, he's a he's a grownman, but he's also still still
grown twenties. I mean, he'lltake of those flintstones vitamins appairly and well
one of those twenties and he's stillhit a gross spurt. He's unbelievable.
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That entire team is going to betough to beat eighty nine to fifty right
now with about six and a halfminutes to go in that game over there
in the Midwest region, but let'stalk tigers. By the way, Will
Vandervort is on site live again likeit was last time for us in Memphis.
He'll join us in about ten minutesor so with a live preview of
what's going on with this Clemson teamthat, by the way, richmond second
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largest victory margin in NCAA program historyby their own standards, seventy seven to
fifty six win over New Mexico ina game that was just never in doubt
from the start, from the openingtip man, Clemson had the energy.
Defensively, they clamped down. It'sa dangerous New Mexico team we talked about
with coach Patino, but what aperformance by Brad burn Hills group. Yes,
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and we can look at it froman offensive standpoint and talk about that,
but this was all about defense andhow important it was going to be
for Clemson to be able to lockdown the guards there for New Mexico,
and that was going to need tobe a big factor because they were such
a guard heavy team when you're talkingabout Jalen House and Jamal Mashburn Junior and
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DeVante Dent. That was the keyfor the Tigers holding New Mexico to thirteen
percent. From beyond the art,that'll work that right there is what you
need to be able to do.And this was not a low volume shooting
opportunity for New Mexico. I mean, they were shooting a lot of threes
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and they're not typically a big threepoint shooting team necessarily, but they can
knock them down. And then alsowhen you look at it from a perspective
that they needed to have needed toknock down some threes because they were falling
behind because Clemson was clicking on allcylinders offensively there for a period of time.
And so it was a great jobfor the Tigers not letting them get
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any momentum by playing good, soliddefense and especially out on the perimeter in
close out situations and not giving upeasy looks. And that's what I've seen
here in the tournament several games.It blows my mind when I see some
of these wide open shots for guys, and this is the difference. Okay,
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we're going off on a tangent here, joh do it. Let's do
this. So this is what thedifference is when you look at college basketball
versus the NBA. And I knowyou can there's some people that will say,
oh, they don't play much defensein the NBA. Go watch an
NBA game and you'll see how muchdefense they're playing. And now you have
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to give the respect and give propsto the offensive players because they create open
shots where in college there's so manytimes, especially I've watched several of these
games in the NCAA tournament so far, and there's no rotation defensively, and
there's no closeouts, and guys aregetting wide open three point shots. And
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you give these shooters wide open threepoint shots, they're going to knock them
down. In the NBA, there'ssomebody in their face unless they're doing such
a great job of creating opportunities justa little bit of space. And so
the players in the NBA are soskilled offensively that it makes it look like
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the defense is not playing well,and that's just not the case. They're
just making great plays. Where herein college I'm not taking anything away from
the offensive players, but my goodness, some of these shots. It's wide
open and bad. So why doI've seen it? With Utah State and
Purdue in this game. A lotof that we just talked about has been
happening here. We saw out againstNew Mexico. If you Clemson here a
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team you mentioned that shot three oftwenty three from downtown two of eleven from
the start there in the first period, and that really kind of set the
tempo for both teams. Whereas Clemsonthey had a sort of a paltry three
point effort in the second half,but to get off to a four of
nine start from downtown in the firsthalf, shooting forty eight percent from the
field, as opposed to thirty fourpercent for New Mexico. New Mexico had
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a little run there before halftime andthat got things a little. Flors had
a nice run there into the secondhalf early on eight point run, but
again Clemson led by as much astwenty three with about two h four left
in this game. Turnovers were abig advantage, but again, what a
game for guys that needed to stepup. We know PJ. Hall is
going to be the standard here.Five of nine, didn't have a lot
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of shots, didn't need to takea lot of shots. Fourteen points,
three rebounds, but the chef inCheflin is back sixteen points, twelve rebounds,
and what a story it is forChase Hunter. Had a terrible game
against Boston College, comes back eightof sixteen twenty one points. What a
night for those two zero for tenin that Boston College game for Chase Hunter
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and eight of sixteen from the field. As you mentioned, he only hit
one three pointer, but that's allhe really needs to do. He only
took four and now, yes,obviously you want him to shoot better than
twenty five percent, but he doesn'tneed to shoot eight three pointers in a
game. But he also doesn't needto shoot one. He needs to be
in that three to four range.If he can knock a couple of those
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down, that's going to create sucha advantage for Clemson because now you're going
to have to guard Chase Hunter outon the perimeter. And he's such a
good penetrator that once you come outon the perimeter and try to guard him,
he can blow by people and thenall of a sudden, it's an
advantage he can find the open guy, which typically is PJ. Hall,
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or it's Ian Shefflin, or it'san RJ. Godfrey, that he can
get into the action one of thosetwo players. And also you have to
look at how Chase Hunter's body languagewas completely different in this game. He
looked intentional, he looked aggressive,he looked motivated, and in that Boston
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College game, he just didn't havethat same type of intensity that you normally
see from Chase Hunter. And heseemed like a man on a mission with
a aspect of redemption on his mindthat he wanted to come out and set
the tone pretty early for the time, and I think it carried over and
we saw that and to that pointyou could see the chef he took over
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and he was the man out therejust continuing to showcase just how vital he
is for the Tigers, and evenfor PJ. Hall sitting there playing only
basically nineteen minutes. Foul trouble wasan issue, but there was a part
of that where the guard play wasso good the for Clemson it didn't really
matter. No, it didn't matter. We had contributions from everybody on this
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team. Jack Clark's defense was amazingas always. Six points, eight rebounds,
four assists. So if he playeda little more time there maybe a
triple double for him. But againthat's Jack Clark's game there on the wing,
playing good defense. The bench outscores New Mexico thirteen to twelve,
and you mentioned r J Godfree sixpoints, Chauncey Wiggins with five points as
well, and really one of thedefining moments in this game going back and
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forth early with the Lobos. It'sbeen a season of runs, and we
talked about it. Clemson goes outto a thirty to eleven advantage on a
nineteen to two run, and that'skind of the story for Clemson this year
in a lot of ways, storyof runs. When they win, they
tend to go on runs like thatnineteen to two against a very good team
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with a lot of players in NewMexico that can score. That's getting it
done right there. Hold that teamto two points in that span of time
and to get it done offensively.That was the defining moment of the game.
My thought, Oh, no question, and it was all predicated by
defense, yep, that you canbe able to slow New Mexico down and
then be able to create some turnovers. And not that New Mexico had a
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large number of turnovers. I meanthirteen turnovers. That's not excessive, that's
more than New Mexico averages, butit just seemed that they couldn't get anything
going offensively. And Donovan Dent,one of their star guards there, he
just couldn't do really anything at all. And that was a big part of
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why Clemson was able to clamp downon those guards. And once you were
able to do that, then theyput so much pressure on themselves to try
to hit outside shots and they continuejust to forget about JT. Toppin,
who was a Freshman of the Yearin the Mountain West and you should be
getting him involved quite a bit.But kudos to Clemson for again putting that
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type of pressure, not allowing theentry passes into top and also and so
you had that scenario playing out wherejust offensively, New Mexico couldn't get anything
going, and give Clemson a lotof credit for that. Look at Mashburn
and House combined for New Mexico.We talked about Mashburn's tough night one of
eleven, House for fourteen, fiveof twenty five. That's twenty percent from
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the floor and combined from downtown twoof fourteen. So again, great job
defensively for Clemson. I did notexpect Mashburn to have that type of night,
but give credit to Clemson's defense becausehe is really one of the key
cogs that makes that thing go togo. One of eleven on that stage.
Disappointing for the second generation player there, mash Furn. Yeah, well,
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and I think part of it toois just remember New Mexico had that
run in the Mountain West Conference towin the conference tournament championship and get the
automatic bid. Four games and fourdays to be able to do that,
and that's tough and then have toturn around a short scenario in terms of
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preparing for Clemson. You don't knowthe team, and obviously Clemson was in
the same predicament, but Clemson hadmore time as far as rest. They
didn't have more time as far asprep because obviously you didn't know the matchup.
It's just that Clemson had much moretime to rest. And when we
talked to Will Vandervoort the other day, we did talk about that, and
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so I'm anxious to talk to himonce again to get his thoughts and from
his perspective being there, could hesee Was there anything with Clemson a little
bit more energy versus New Mexico whoseemed to just be lacking some energy there,
And I think it could be partlythat they didn't have much time to
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recover tired legs. It's a littlelike to me on the TV, but
I'm not an expert. Will willjoin us here in a minute to talk
about what that team did to NewMexico. That is Clemson, a team
that wins their first round matchup atthe FedEx Forum. They're back there again
tonight with a six' ten tipoff against Scott Drew's team, a very
good Baylor team. Rich and We'vetalked about this team all season long.
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Baylor has a lot of money investedin that program in facilities. They've got
a very strong lineup and we'll getsome insight from not only our good friend
will Vandervoord, but one another here. Later in the show, we'll talk
about the matchups. Also, we'llgo through the brackets, give you a
scoreboard update of what's going on rightnow in the NCAA tournament. As teams
are punching their ticket to the Sweetsixteen, will Clemson be one of them?
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We'll find out here shortly six'ten pm tip off from the FedEx
Forum in Memphis. This is theEngles Countdown to tip Off Show on ninety
two point five WeSC Keep It Lockedin Coming up next live from Memphis,
Will Vandervolt from the Clemson Inside checksonye two point five w d S is
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the Upstate's new home with a ClemsonTigers shume on the count you down to
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tip off in a big, bigway. Here, It's Ingles Countdown to
tip Off Show, John Elist,Richmond Weaver, Trey Falco in the house
as well. Whose bracket remains thebest out of our iHeartRadio Little fun bracket
we're doing here. I think RichmondWeavers in second with a great Bill ellis
over the whistle one hundred. I'mdown there in fifth so I'm just a
you know, tread water. I'mjust trying to trying to find my way
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back into this thing. It's beenrough. It's been There's a lot of
basketball left. As long as youhave your final four teams I got intact,
then then you're okay three of them. We'll see how it goes for
some of these teams. Today.Has heclipsed the one hundred mark against utass
stage one O two to sixty five. I'm guessing Zach eat he probably has
about a triple double right now.And this team is on fire, and
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they're very very tough to beat.Uh tough to beat in terms of On
the coverage side of things is WillVan Voord from Clemson Insider. He is
live from Memphis getting ready to coverthis game at six' ten pm.
We'll welcome to the show, buddy, Thanks Will, Are you there?
Yeah? Thank you? Guys.Hear there he is. Yes, you're
cutting a little bit of a uhan ocean there. For a minute you
(19:30):
were gurgling, but you're better now. Memphis always UH known for their bad
cell reception, of course, niceyeah, so I apologize if I got
lte, so you are not onlyso you are going to sound good?
Man, Hey, how you been? How's memphistring you? Let's treat me
good. I've probably gained five pounds, you know, good eating, so
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that's always good. And then uh, and of course is everything else.
Man, It's been a nice tripobviously, head back home tomorrow, but
hope going home with more basketball workto do. Well, you're doing double
duty here because I saw you onTwitter at Steeler Will And let's just get
a quick note in on the baseballteam. How about that? Yeah,
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Richmond, two straight days, thisteam has overcome huge deficits late in the
doing there. How about this baseballteam right now? Yeah, give very
back into this guy's credit. Yesterdaythey came back with eight runs in the
bottom of the night to beat FloriaState nine to eight. The unbelievable come
back. And then today to doit again. They're down eleven to two
going into the stick and they comeon and win fourteen to twelve. Just
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unbelievable. What this team is andhow they just so resilient and don't give
up. And now twenty one andtwo and six, five and one in
ACC play I believe, or maybeseven in one. Excuse me an ACC
play. I can't figure it.I can't remember exactly what the numbers are,
but they're in good shape, somaybe five and one. They play
two conference games, five and onea conference play, So off to a
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good starting conference play. They gotin two good wins against two top ten
teams, and you know now theyget ready for Coast to Carolina in the
midweek and then got a big seriesdown at Miami next week. So also
a good start twenty one and two. I don't think anybody can complaining with
that, not at all. MarchMadison, the Diamond and March Madness back
on the hardwood, as will vandervotas our guests from the Clemson Insider covering
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the Tigers run through the NCAA Tournament, a run that feels a little more
real now after getting the big winover New Mexico, a win in which
we'll Rich and I were talking aboutdefense. Defense overall was just the key
here, holding Mashburn to one ofeleven, House to four, fourteen,
Dent three of eighteen, the bigthree for that team, just not getting
it done. But credit Brad Brunell'sdefense and a number of players, including
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Ian Shefflin and Jack Clark for beinga part of that. Yeah, yeah,
absolutely, those two guys were unbelievablein guarding House and Mashburn and just
as you just mentioned it, anoutstanding jobs shutting them down. And then
you know, when you look atthe fact that held them to thirteen percent
from behind the arc, which isa Clemson record in the NCAA tournament,
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as well as they held of twentynine percent overall from the field, which
is the second best mark in Clemsonhistory in the nc DOUBLEA Tournament game.
So just outstanding numbers from the defensiveside. And then you know, you
look at Chase Hunter and the wayhe played on the offensive side. Twenty
one points, six assists. Imean, you know he was four he
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was four ten what was it,I can't remember, eight or fourteen from
the field, I believe, andhad a couple of steals as well on
a block shot. I mean,his numbers were outstanding as well, and
a good win that got him going. And now, of course, you
know, all you do is youplay a better version of New Mexico today,
That's right. Yes, As we'recontinuing with Will Vanderboard of The Clemson
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Insider, and so Will, Ido have to ask you about Chase Hunter
because we talked about it specifically theother day and during the show, and
how important was going to be forChase Hunter to obviously he redeemed himself from
that Boston College debacle for all ofthe Tigers obviously not just that Chase Hunter
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had a bad performance, but obviouslycollectively Clemson did. But they're in person,
just what I could see on theTV screen, the body language was
completely different for Chase Hunter. Andfrom your perspective, it just I wonder
what did you see there with ChaseHunter, because he seemed intentional, he
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seemed aggressive, he seemed energized,and I do believe the other players for
Clemson fed off of his energy.Absolutely they did. He was very aggressive
right from the get go. Thesecond possession of the game for Clemson,
he goes straight to the hole anddrives it in and you know, all
of a sudden, you know,that kind of got him going. And
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Brad mentioned yesterday he was asked aboutit, and Brad Brad said he took
Chase aside after the Boston College gameand said, listen, you know we
need you to play well. However, there's certain things you do when you
play well, there's certain things youdo when you're playing bad what we need
you to do, and they kindof pointed out what those things were on
both ends, and he's like,you know, what we need you to
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do is kind of understand what's whyit's causing you when you do play bad,
why you're doing it, and thenwhen you're playing well, what you're
doing that makes you get in thiskind of rhythm. And I think a
part of that aggressiveness, as yousaid, his body language was there and
things of that nature. I thinka part of that was Brad pointing out
to him saying, hey, look, you do this really really well.
You need to focus on that andnot so much focus on these other things
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because when he starts pressing like wesaw against Boston Child's and he does things
that he's not good at, which, guys, what we know is the
three point shot that's not Chase Hunter'sthing. Now, he made a huge
one in the corner, right,but he only shot four, and that's
what they need to make sure thathe's not over extending because that's not his
shot. His shot is to getinto the paint and get to the free
throw line and create that way,which is what he did the other day,
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and they need more of that todayin this game. Guys, I
went and looked it up. WhenChase Hunter plays well, Clinton is twenty
two and four. Yeah, whenChase Hunter plays bad, they're oh and
seven. That will he is definitelythe key to the game. Yeah.
I've been saying that this whole entireseason that so much focus is obviously on
PJ. Hall and Joseph Gerard thethird and his ability to knock down the
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three point shot, but everything,in my opinion is predicated on Chase Hunter
and how he plays because he cancreate so much more spacing offensively for the
Tigers, because if he can hitone or two of those three point shots,
then all of a sudden, youdo have to come out and guard
him, and then he can blowby people, and then now the Tigers
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are an advantage because he's either gettingto the rim or he's finding the open
man, and that's a difference makerfor the Tigers. He doesn't need to
shoot six or seven three pointers eachgame, but if he can shoot three
or four, that's in his Willelhouseand just make one or two and then
all of a sudden, that changesthings offensively for Clemson, absolutely, Richard.
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And that's what Brad said yesterday.It's a matter of him just,
you know, taking what the defensegives him and letting the offense run through
him. And when the offense runsthrough him, then it's more it's more
balanced, it's more efficient. Bratttalked last week with me about how the
guard's got to be efficient and theygot to play in an efficient manner,
and that's what he's talking about.When you look at the numbers, twenty
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one point six assists, there's nomore efficiency than that, exactly in other
and it's just what you said,Richmond. What he's doing is he's creating
off the dribble. He's finding guysthat are open. And when he starts
making plays in the paint in thelane, it forces the defense to have
to collapse and it's going to leaveguys open or you're going to be able
to get the ball inside the PJand N and get those guys involved.
And that's how it all works.It all runs through Chase Hunter. He's
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the quarterback of this team. Andlike I said, you know the stats
don't lie. Twenty two and fourplays. Well, I mean that's that's
that's that's all. Twenty two wins. Guys, that's I mean, you
know they're seven when he don't.When he's plays horrible, they're owen seven.
Yeah, it don't matter what thoseother guys do. Right, And
he only had one turnover yesterday oron Friday. Yeah, six assists,
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one turnover. You'll take that everyday, right, yes, sir,
every day of the week. Limitthe turnovers and be efficient. Will Vandervoord
from Memphis joining us from the ClemsonInsider. As we're getting ready for big
time game between Baylor and the Tigers, Let's talk for a minute about rest
versus rust. Okay, because wehave talked about this Clemson team will every
week on this show, and howplague they have been, and how light
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they've been at practice only sometimes fivesix, seven guys available, and Bradburneal
talked about this in an article youposted at the Clemson Insider. The fact
they had some time out there toget ready for this game, to prepare
mentally physically. How vital was that? And then on the other side,
I think you posted the only timethey've had one day rest all season long,
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was before that Davidson game. Sohow vital is it going to be
to turn this thing around quick?Yeah? Now, the good news is
when they've had two days rest,only two days to turn around games,
they're eight and three right, sothat's not too bad. But they've only
done it once when they had oneday rest, and that was against Davidson
back in December at the beginning theseason in one of those preseason tournaments if
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you will, or non conference tournaments, I should say so, And they
won an emotional game against you adbefore that Davidson game, and then won
an emotional game against Davidson, Soyou know, that was way back then.
I think because they had that ninedays guys that I think this team
you could tell they were rested rightthe other day, you can see.
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I think that still helps today inthis game, because they did a light
practice yesterday, you know, andI think they felt like, maybe,
you know, just kind of workedthe game plan and understanding Baylor's in the
same boat. It's not like Clinton'sdoing it and Baylor didn't have to play.
They both had to play the otherdays in the same boat. So
you really can't use that too much. It's just how you manage your time
prior to the tournament. And Ithink Clinton, obviously, the way they
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played in that first game showed theymanaged their time very well. And now
you see how that carries over intothis game. Just playing less than forty
eight hours later playing another game,and so gonna be interesting to watch the
night. You know which team tiresout first. The key I think guys
for Clemson in this game is theyneed them to do just what they've done
when they played teams like Baylor.Make them play half court offense. Yeah,
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make them play half court defense whenteams usually who are not used to
that, who are customing to runup and down the floor, they get
more tired when they have to playdefense. Baylor gives up seventy one points
a game. That tells you allyou need to know that if you get
them in a half court set andit can wear them down, you can
have some offensive production yourself. Ithink Clempson's going to go with the same
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game plan they did the other day. Try to limit the turnovers, try
to you know, one thing theydid great was transition defense the other day,
right, and I think you gotto do that again in this game,
even more so in this game,because man, these guys are fast.
Man, I watched them the otherday up close and personal. They're
very fast teams. So Clemtson's gotto get back and have good transition defense
and make them play half court offenseand defense. Particularly. You know you
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want to be intentional and deliberate onthe offensive end, Well, you're letting
that shot clock go down to fiveseconds every time before you really shoot.
The reason why you want to makethem play defense because the other day they
did that to New Mexico and theywore them down, and that's why New
Mexico couldn't make a shot. Ithink in the second half they were just
too tired because they spent so muchenergy on the defensive side. As we're
talking with Will Vandervoord of the ClemsonInsider, as you're listening to the Eagles
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Countdown to tip Off show right hereon ninety two point five of EESC with
the Clemson Tigers tipping off at six' ten pm against the Baylor Bears.
They're in the West Region bracket,and so Will, I think what you
summed up perfectly early on was nowthe Tigers face a better version of New
Mexico with Baylor because there are somany similarities between the two teams with this
(30:45):
one key caveat, and it's ohso important because you talk about reason will
yes, he's missy. That isa guy. Yes, watch out there
at center. How athletic key isand how hard that's going to be.
And so I've got two points tothat. One is offense efficiency. We
talked about that, and Baylor iselite when you look at it from an
(31:08):
efficiency standpoint when they have the ball. And also they are a team who
can knock down the three point shot. So this is going to be a
challenge out on the perimeter for theTigers. But then also, as you
mentioned, their center, so Tigersalso have to stay out of foul trouble.
Will they do? They're post guys, all three of them right when
(31:30):
you look at it, And that'sthat's talking about Godfrey. Also, Ian
Shefflin, PJ Hall, and Godfreygot to play better and be smarter right
when defending this guy. I imagineprobably Ian's going to Ian's gonna probably get
to get them because PJ. Idon't know, if you don't want PJ
get them because you don't want pJ to get foul trouble not to say
(31:51):
that. Ian's probably a little bitmore smarter defensively when it comes to things
than PJ is at times, andI think that's probably why he'll draw that
assignment. So it'll be interesting tosee if you know, how Clemson attacks
him and with Ian also, youwant to you can get be a little
more physical with Ian, and Ithink that's what they're going to try to
attack him, just to be alittle bit more physical. It's not like
(32:14):
he's like dominating the thing. He'sonly you know, eleven point seven points
and you know, you know,I think five rebounds things. It's not
like he's like killing it where he'slike, you know, you know,
what's his name, Ediot Purdue.You know he's not He's not He's not
that guy, thirty and twenty guy. You know, he's he's a he's
eleven and six guy, which tellsyou, as you mentioned Richmond, he's
very athletic and he can do thingswith the basketball, make plays and shoot
(32:37):
outside. And that's kind of youknow, I hate to say it this
way because he probably would beat thesne out of me if we were in
a boxing match, But he's ahe's a finesse guy. Is that's right,
And that's yes. I think that'swhere Cleinson can try to try to
be more physical and Clemson is aphysical and you know, Scott Drew talked
about that yesterday, how physical Clintonis probably the most physical team they're gonna
(33:00):
play all year, That's what hesays. He says, he says,
they're gonna bang you, They're gonnaweigh you down, They're going to try
to frustrate you on the defensive side, and so they're kind of telling their
players, let them know, thisisn't you know a team that runs up
and down the court. This isthe team that's going to body you and
bang you and they're gonna make youwork for everything you get and try to
be physical. So I think Scottdrews trying to get his team prepared mentally
(33:23):
for what this game is going tobe like, because it's gonna be probably
the most physical challenge they've had tothis point. Clinton's going to be a
definitely challenge because of the way theycan shoot, and then having the big
man that's different from Clemsonson cover andthen on the other side, I think
Clemson's fiscality is different for them,and to get the win against New Mexico
with Joseph Girard going two of twelvefrom the field, Look, I kind
(33:45):
of look at that as a positivefor Clemson and that positive not that that's
a good thing, but that's oneof his off nights. You would assume
a better night from the floor herefrom the transfer from sarahcuse your thoughts on
getting Girard going early in terms ofperimeter shooting and what impact that could have
in this game. Yeah, reallyworried about a little bit about Joe because
he's had two halves in a rownow where he struggled. He struggled in
(34:07):
the second half against Boston College wherehe went oh for six or seven,
and then he went oh for tenthe other day in the second half,
and you know, just really didn'tplay well the entire game. So you
know, he's you concerned about howhe's not making shots like he was making
early in the year, and youwonder what the reason is and why he
(34:28):
is struggling the way he is rightnow, And I guess we'll find that
out. But yeah, I thinkwhat you need to do to get his
confidence going is maybe figure a wayto set a string up high and get
him you know, some looks.He had some looks the other day guys,
and he just missed them. Imean they were there and he was
And the thing that was interesting tome was they were they were short.
Yeah, nothing was coming off theback iron. They were coming off the
front of the iron, which Richman, as you know, that tells me
(34:49):
there's something with I don't know,with his energy level or things of that
nature that's causing him maybe to gettired later in the game, because that's
usually when guys are short the rim, it just usually means they're tired.
And that's what we saw the otherday out of him. So comps that
needs him, for whatever reason,to get out of this funk and maybe
not insert so much energy in thefirst half, maybe save something up for
the second half. Well, you'vecovered this team for a long time,
(35:13):
You've been through the highs and lowsof this program. Just what would it
mean for this Clemson program to advanceto a Sweet sixteen. Well, it
means a lot, right, IMean they did it six years ago,
so I hadn't done it six yearsand you know, it'll be something that
would be big for them, youknow, and to beat a team who
has recently won a national championship inBaylor, I think that would mean a
(35:36):
lot at the same time, andso to do it not just getting there,
but doing it against the team thata lot of people expect to be
in the Sweet sixteen, so inBaylor. So I think it would mean
a lot to this program to kindof get that win. And then you
know, you go to side ofthe bracket where you know, yeah,
you're gonna be the underdog against Arizona, but you know, if you get
(36:00):
past them, you got North Carolinaand that's the team you beat, right
And so they got to feel reallygood if they can get past this challenge
today. They like their chances tomaybe do something that's never been done to
Cleintson. There's a couple teams thatthey're familiar with, Alabama still in the
mix as well, and we'll seewhat happens with this whole deal is Clemson's
looking to get one more under theirbelt and make another Sweet sixteen appearance.
(36:21):
It's been a minute. It's beena minute since we talked to Will Vandervore.
Good to catch up with you livefrom Memphis covering this game for the
Clemson Insider. We'll hope to talkto you next week, my friend,
I guys hope, so man,that means that means we're in Los Angeles
and we're covering a chance to goto the league. Yeah, I get
you pack the sunscreen. Buddy,will Vandervoort joining us live from Memphis,
getting ready for the big game todaybetween the Baylor Bears and the Clemson Tigers.
(36:44):
Tip off approximately six' ten pm. Don Munson, Tim Bray on
the call. Good to see Timgiving up a little golf activity here for
the Golf Channel to call these gamesbecause they mean a lot to this program
right now, a lot. You'regonna hear more from the Clemson Tigers here
coming up shortly. Rich and Ihave some thoughts on the brackets. Right
now, we'll give you some livescore board updates. There was another big
(37:05):
game earlier today that was a closeone, a great game between Colorado and
uh obviously who did Colorado play?I'm Smarquette, Marquette, that's right,
I almost say Smart, Yes,Shaka Smart finally getting done in the tournament.
That's been the big theme with him. And more games coming up here,
including Duke taking on the Dukes.James Madison that's coming up here shortly.
Clemson tipping off at six' ten. We got you covered here on
(37:27):
the Englands Countdown to tip Off Show. Much more to come right here on
WSC statis ninety two point five.W s E is the Upstate's new home
(41:45):
with a Clemson Tigers count you downto tip off. Clemson take it on
(42:07):
Baylor for the right to fight intothe Sweet sixteen. It's been a minute
since Clemson has had that luxury,but they're going forward all this year and
they've got the roster at least,we feel like in this studio to maybe
pull it off. We'll see ifthey can get by Baylor in this game
and then see if they can matchup with a familiar foe down the road.
It's the Engles count Down to tipOff Show, getting you ready for
(42:28):
Clinton Baylor. I'm John Ellis,That's Richmond Weaver. That's Trey Falco,
who continues to lead our iHeart Radiobrackets right now at the moment, rich
is a close second. I amfalling a part of the seams. Kank
Spencer, our friend up there inAsheville at iHeartRadio is in the mix.
My dad Bill Ellis is in themix, and my son Jonathan's having a
rough go of it in the secondround. But such is the brackets.
(42:49):
You know, they have all beenblown up in the first round anyway,
with just all survival mode right now, and as we talked about earlier,
some games have gone down today andsome games have gone final punching their tickets
to the Sweet sixteen right now willbe Purdue. No big surprise Utah State
though it was a great story.They got the big win. They're coming
out of the Mountain West. Purdueis just too good. We talked about
(43:10):
the top of the show with ZachEdens not just eating that team as a
whole, very complete from Matt later, Yeah, they're balanced, and then
there was a reason why Purdue hasbeen up there as a number one team
overall for this season. Obviously,Yukon has spent to the most time as
the top team in the country,but Purdue is definitely one of those teams
(43:31):
that is a true contender for anational championship because they are in the top
twenty in offensive efficiency, they're inthe top forty and defensive efficiency, so
they do so many things so welland for a period of time Utah State
was able to compete because they weregetting some open shots and Purdue seemed to
(43:53):
be playing lackluster defense. And thenfor the last seven minutes of that first
half, Purdue stepped up their defensivepressure. And then also I felt Utah
State just starts settling way too muchon quick shots and trying to hit from
downtown, and that's just a recipefor a disaster. And then obviously when
(44:14):
you can't compete in the paint onthe opposite side with Zach Edy just doing
Yeoman's like work, once again,it's just too tough to defend there.
For Utah State entertaining game. Earliertoday, I mentioned the team I finally
figured out who what is Marquette,as Richmond said, eighty one seventy seven
win over a dangerous Colorado team thathad them on the ropes late. Richmond,
(44:37):
a heck of a job by Coloradogetting as far as a ten seed,
and Marquette the two seed. Somethings to clean up, but still
a dangerous team. Is a twoseed in this tournament of the South Region,
Oh, no question. Tyler Kolloch, who was last year's Biggieast Player
of the year. He's finally healthy. He missed six or seven games with
a bleak injury earlier this season,and he was the difference maker today just
(44:59):
being the steady Eddie type of pointguard that Marquette needed. And give a
lot of credit to Colorado. Thisis a team that has played quite a
bit over the past a couple ofweeks and obviously have that game against Florida
and how they were able to getthat victory to face Marquette and right there
(45:21):
at the end of the game geta crazy bounce there from the corner as
the shot goes in to beat Florida. But give Colorado a lot of credit
that they were falling behind early inthe first half and just hung around.
And so many times we've seen inthis tournament you allow a team just to
hang around, and that's where itcan be dangerous. And that's why I've
(45:42):
got to mention a team that didhang around. And I'm anxious to see
how this game is going to belater. And that's that late when you
talked about with Yale taking on SanDiego State. Yes, and so this
is in life. There's times thatyou do just have to enjoy life and
and laugh and and just take incomedy at times. So on X or
(46:08):
Twitter that this is absolutely fantastic.So the Twitter handle at Yale m BB,
which makes sense, It makes sense, that's Yale, it's universal basketball.
Okay. Well, so that isnot the Twitter handle or X handle
(46:30):
for Yale men's basketball. Their Twitterhandle or X handle is at Yale Capital
m Basketball. And so there's there'sa tweet going around that says, our
notifications are blowing up with basketball tweets. This is from at Yale MBB.
(46:55):
Again, our notifications are blowing upwith basketball tweets, but we are the
Yale Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry account.The men's basketball account posted the spider Man
meme I'm putting each other like who'sover here? By the way, In
case you're wanting to know, thisis what happens with Marge Maddens. You
(47:16):
gotta love it, love it.The Yale MBNB is the Yale Molecular Biophysics
and Biochemistry and they put it intheir profile, not Yale in Basketball,
and their tagline is Bola Bola.Well, I'll tell you who's not laughing
(47:37):
right now, and it's not justBruce Pearl, as they took it on
the chin from Yale, not thebiophysics folks to the basketball folks, the
thirteen seed Yale, as you mentioned, seventy eight, seventy six. But
a tough front so far for theSEC and large. A lot of SEC
teams are taking it on the chinright now, including the team we talked
about earlier, Colorado beating Florida dramaticfashion back on Friday one two to one
(47:59):
hundred. So you've seen a lotof these Southeastern Conference teams fall here early
on, and certainly some of theaction from yesterday. We got to talk
about some scores there as well,as we're starting to look forward to the
tip off here at six' tenfor Clemson Baylor. Not a lot of
upsets on Saturday. Dayton loses toArizona, so the two seat advances back
to the sweet sixteen in the WestRegion, Kansas, there's your upset of
(48:22):
the day, I suppose, althoughthe Zags they're always prime for tournament play.
A dominant win, and coach selfafter the game was talking about I'm
already thinking about next season. Yeah, and there's a lot of scrutiny with
Bill self right now. But ifyou go back and actually, this is
the danger of just having a headline, and especially when you see it on
social media, because go back andlisten to Bill self the entire entity of
(48:49):
the quote, and you have amuch better perspective it was. It's not
taken out of context, but there'snot enough context with it. Understand that
there's more to it, and itdoes not sound as harsh as it is
that oh, he was already givenup on the season. He was not
saying that at all. But withthat said, Gonzaga this is their ninth
(49:15):
ninth consecutive Sweet sixteen. So thisis a team that is no stranger to
advancing in the NCAA Tournament under MarkFugh. So as much as people want
to say it's an upset by seednumber, yeah, I understand that,
But my goodness, Gonzaga is aprogram that just continues to shine in the
(49:36):
month of March. Yeah, they'regoing back to the Sweet sixteen. North
Carolina is as well, eighty fivesixty nine win. Just too much talent
on that team. I saw statearlier where their average age is more than
that of the Oklahoma City Thunder.Right now, that is a veteran team
and they look like it against MichiganState. Well, and that's one of
the things that Jay Wright had talkedabout when you saw Oakland and beat Kentucky
(50:00):
and how important it is as faras now with nil you're having teams that
can be older teams because players canstay in college because they now have the
opportunity they don't have to jump.But and so you have these older guys
that can transfer to these different programs, they can stay in college. But
(50:22):
then when you have a collective unitlike Kentucky, when those guys are just
going to be one and done andthey just try to come together for one
period of time, a small periodof time, it's just too difficult to
end today's landscape of college basketball becausethere's no team aspect to it. And
you're seeing again how important it iswhen you come together collectively as a team,
(50:46):
you can do much more than youare just a hodgepodge of great talent.
I think Clemson's a good example ofthat this year. They talked about
it in the press conference last week. He heard it on the last show
we did here I was Stay gota big win over wat Washington. They
advanced to the Sweet sixteen in theEast Region. We talked about Oakland dramatic
finish in C State. Congrats tothe wolf Pack. We didn't think much
(51:07):
of this during the regular season,but here's Kevin Keats not only saving his
job but getting extension. Now somebonuses mixed in, and that number eleven
seed in C State is moving onin the South Region. That's how quickly
things can change. And I've actuallywent back and looked at some of INC
State's not necessarily the games in termsof video, but just going back and
(51:30):
looking at some of the stats andlooking at their record, and in all
honesty, INC State is a betterteam than they are on paper as far
as what their record was, especiallyhitting a lull there during the mid part
of the season, and I thinkthat it got overshadowed, and then obviously
(51:52):
the big run that they had.Not saying that that right now, this
is not the true NC State team. I do believe they're playing with so
much confidence right now, but Ido believe that an eleven seed for NC
State, I think they were trulymore of like a nine seed rather than
eleven seed. Well, that's thenarrative that Brad Burndol's talked about. This
(52:14):
sort of disrespect and not so manywords that the ACC has continued to garner
here and ironically enough, they're playinga big twelve team today. Clemson is
so a lot it's staked there.From that end, Tennessee, Rick Barnes
gets his former team in Texas sixtytwo to fifty eight. They move on
Illinois. No big surprise here,eighty nine to sixty three win over Ducane,
(52:34):
and Creighton gets a big win overOregon. We'll talk more about what's
going on right now. Is Dukeis underway against James Madison score board update,
and we'll talk about the Clemson gameagainst Baylor, the matchups, and
some other games that are heading yourway. This evening is March Madness continues.
This is the Engles Countdown to tipOff Show ninety two point five WSCA
(55:52):
Nubey two point five WDS is theUpstate's new home with a Clemson Tigers Yes,
with the right to go to theswitch sixteen on the line to Clemson
(56:13):
Tigers tangling with the Baylor Bears upthere in Memphis. Don Munson, Tim
Burray gonna take over here in afew short minutes. John Ellis, Richmond
Weaver, Trey Falco is always herewith the Engles countdown to tip Off show,
hoping to give you one or twoor three more of these coming up
next week in the following weeks.But first things first, as we look
at some other games going on rightnow, du because ahead early on James
(56:36):
Madison, but let's turn our attentionquickly rich to this matchup today. Baylor's
a different animal than New Mexico.They've got side inside you've talked about,
and a couple of very proficient scorerson this team. Yeah, and you
look at Jalen Bridge's senior there forthe Baylor Bears, and what Jacobe Walter
can do as a freshman at nineteenpoints in that opening round game against Colgate
(56:57):
and then Jayden Dunn had fifteen.But it's e Missy the athletic seven footer.
He's a tough guy to contend with. And again, not that he's
going to be able to pound thepaint necessarily, but he just does so
many things so well, and hecan be a rim protector also, So
Clemson's going to have to be ableto have an opportunity to get some points
in the paint. But at theend of the day, just like when
(57:19):
we talked with will Vandervoord earlier.I mean, it is going to be
about Clemson and Chase Hunter being ableto hold onto the ball and run some
offensive sets and not allow Baylor toget out and push their efficiency from an
offensive standpoint, because that's what theydo so well. They're not a necessarily
a fast paced team. They wantto probably run just a little bit faster
(57:44):
than Clemson does. But what theydo so well is that they get in
transition and so they get defenses backon their heels, and they have such
great offensive spacing that when you canput it download to Missy, then he
can kick it back out and theyrotate the ball so well with their spacing,
then they get these open three pointshots. They're shooting almost forty percent
(58:07):
from beyond the arc, and sowhen you have that type of in out
perspective from an offensive standpoint, itmakes it very hard to defend. And
that's why Clemson's going to have todo a fantastic job being able to close
out on the perimeter. And mythought on this, you've seen a lot
of young first second year coaches inthis tournament right now, not in this
game. You've got a couple ofcoaches in Brad Burnell and Scott Drew,
(58:30):
who's been there forever, by theway, twenty one seasons at Baylor.
He's done a great job over eighthundred and fifty career wins combined between the
two. So you look at coaching, you look at managing the game.
That's a big aspect of this aswell as Clemson looks to bring home a
Sweet Sixteen appearance for Tigers fans thatare starving for on right now, no
doubt about it. Tip off cominghere at six' ten in just a
(58:52):
few short minutes. Don Munson TimBurray takeover on the Clemson Athletic Network keeping
locked in here to the ninety twopoint five wsc all evening long for Clemson
Tigers Basketball, for Trey Falco producingfor Richmond Weaver. I am John Ellis.
This has been Engles Countdown to tipOff Show. Stay tuned for the
tip off between Baylor and Clemson withthe Sweet Sixteen on the line. Y'all
(59:15):
have a great evening. We'll seeyou next time.
W E. S. E FM. Greenville, Spartanburg, Andersen.
Time for the Ingles Countdown to tipOff Show, brought to you pie Ingles
Markets, Low prices, Love theSavings, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, Harley
Davidson of Greenville, Rare Flooring Center, the Surgery Center at Pella McGhee,
eating an air hand by Palmeadow StateArmory. Now Here are your hosts,
(00:30):
John Alism Richmond Weaver well who willstamp their ticket to the Sweet sixteen?
Will it be the Baylor Bears oryour Clemson Tigers who take on this Baylor
team today the three seed out ofthe region, Clemson the sixth seed.
This is the Ingles Countdown to tipOff Show, getting you ready for another
big day of March Madness. Gamesare underway, Games will continue to be
(00:53):
underway. We're going to go throughour brackets here and embarrass ourselves a little
bit as always. Richmond Weaver joinsme here. Rich how Bud Oh doing
absolutely fantastic on a Sunday evening afternoon. I should say, as we're going
to be tipping off in the evening, but how can you ask for anything
better? I mean, it's sunshine, it's college basketball. And I have
(01:15):
been living and breathing college basketball sinceThursday. I have not had much sleep,
but that's okay. I survive.Managed late games have been great,
man. But although I would haveto say again, I'm trying to do
my best years ago. No problemfor me to stay up and watch a
(01:36):
game like Creighton had last all right, going to double overtime. But these
days I can't do it. Can'tdo it. I can't do it.
And I love that we have basketballall day, but I'm almost to the
point of, hey, let's goahead and start tipping off like at ten
thirty in the morning. Yeah,I'm with us. They did play a
game on Saturday local time. Itwas at ten forty five Arizona there in
(01:59):
Salt Lakes. It was a brunchbas it was a brunch, So why
not go ahead and do that onthe East Coast. So then on the
East Coast games, instead of tippingoff at nine to forty or ten thirty,
we can tip off about eight thirty. That'd be much better. Get
your coffee ready for tonight because Yaletakes on San Diego State in the East
Region at nine forty that's a latenight tip off as well. As another
(02:19):
late night game with big implications.Texas A and M the number nine seed
out of the South taking on mypersonal pick to win it all. Houston
the one seed out of the outof the South region. So there you
go. A lot of activity rightnow. We can tell you that Purdue
is on a tear. This gamewas close for about ten minutes. Richmond
and Zach Edy is just unreal.This is the first real game I've sat
(02:40):
down all year and watched a fullforty minutes of Zach Edy. We'll get
to Clemson in a minute, buthe is unbelievable. Eighty six to forty
eight with about seven minutes to go. Yeah, and it was there the
last seven minutes of the first halfthat Purdue just pulled away and they just
couldn't stop Zach Edy. And hehad a double double there in the first
half and potentially was on his wayto a triple double there in the first
(03:04):
half if Purdue could have hit someearly shots, he had opportunities for more
assists. He had three assists therein the first half, and he could
have had at least seven or eightif Purdue would have made some early shots
there at the beginning of the game. But again, when you're that size
seven to four and there's rumors it'sunsubstantiated at this point, but there are
(03:25):
rumors out there that he has grownthis year. That's crazy. Yes,
exactly, that's right. That iscrazy because obviously you're looking at him saying,
oh, he's a he's a grownman, but he's also still still
grown twenties. I mean, he'lltake of those flintstones vitamins appairly and well
one of those twenties and he's stillhit a gross spurt. He's unbelievable.
(03:46):
That entire team is going to betough to beat eighty nine to fifty right
now with about six and a halfminutes to go in that game over there
in the Midwest region, but let'stalk tigers. By the way, Will
Vandervort is on site live again likeit was last time for us in Memphis.
He'll join us in about ten minutesor so with a live preview of
what's going on with this Clemson teamthat, by the way, richmond second
(04:09):
largest victory margin in NCAA program historyby their own standards, seventy seven to
fifty six win over New Mexico ina game that was just never in doubt
from the start, from the openingtip man, Clemson had the energy.
Defensively, they clamped down. It'sa dangerous New Mexico team we talked about
with coach Patino, but what aperformance by Brad burn Hills group. Yes,
(04:30):
and we can look at it froman offensive standpoint and talk about that,
but this was all about defense andhow important it was going to be
for Clemson to be able to lockdown the guards there for New Mexico,
and that was going to need tobe a big factor because they were such
a guard heavy team when you're talkingabout Jalen House and Jamal Mashburn Junior and
(04:54):
DeVante Dent. That was the keyfor the Tigers holding New Mexico to thirteen
percent. From beyond the art,that'll work that right there is what you
need to be able to do.And this was not a low volume shooting
opportunity for New Mexico. I mean, they were shooting a lot of threes
(05:15):
and they're not typically a big threepoint shooting team necessarily, but they can
knock them down. And then alsowhen you look at it from a perspective
that they needed to have needed toknock down some threes because they were falling
behind because Clemson was clicking on allcylinders offensively there for a period of time.
And so it was a great jobfor the Tigers not letting them get
(05:38):
any momentum by playing good, soliddefense and especially out on the perimeter in
close out situations and not giving upeasy looks. And that's what I've seen
here in the tournament several games.It blows my mind when I see some
of these wide open shots for guys, and this is the difference. Okay,
(05:58):
we're going off on a tangent here, joh do it. Let's do
this. So this is what thedifference is when you look at college basketball
versus the NBA. And I knowyou can there's some people that will say,
oh, they don't play much defensein the NBA. Go watch an
NBA game and you'll see how muchdefense they're playing. And now you have
(06:25):
to give the respect and give propsto the offensive players because they create open
shots where in college there's so manytimes, especially I've watched several of these
games in the NCAA tournament so far, and there's no rotation defensively, and
there's no closeouts, and guys aregetting wide open three point shots. And
(06:48):
you give these shooters wide open threepoint shots, they're going to knock them
down. In the NBA, there'ssomebody in their face unless they're doing such
a great job of creating opportunities justa little bit of space. And so
the players in the NBA are soskilled offensively that it makes it look like
(07:11):
the defense is not playing well,and that's just not the case. They're
just making great plays. Where herein college I'm not taking anything away from
the offensive players, but my goodness, some of these shots. It's wide
open and bad. So why doI've seen it? With Utah State and
Purdue in this game. A lotof that we just talked about has been
happening here. We saw out againstNew Mexico. If you Clemson here a
(07:32):
team you mentioned that shot three oftwenty three from downtown two of eleven from
the start there in the first period, and that really kind of set the
tempo for both teams. Whereas Clemsonthey had a sort of a paltry three
point effort in the second half,but to get off to a four of
nine start from downtown in the firsthalf, shooting forty eight percent from the
field, as opposed to thirty fourpercent for New Mexico. New Mexico had
(07:56):
a little run there before halftime andthat got things a little. Flors had
a nice run there into the secondhalf early on eight point run, but
again Clemson led by as much astwenty three with about two h four left
in this game. Turnovers were abig advantage, but again, what a
game for guys that needed to stepup. We know PJ. Hall is
going to be the standard here.Five of nine, didn't have a lot
(08:18):
of shots, didn't need to takea lot of shots. Fourteen points,
three rebounds, but the chef inCheflin is back sixteen points, twelve rebounds,
and what a story it is forChase Hunter. Had a terrible game
against Boston College, comes back eightof sixteen twenty one points. What a
night for those two zero for tenin that Boston College game for Chase Hunter
(08:39):
and eight of sixteen from the field. As you mentioned, he only hit
one three pointer, but that's allhe really needs to do. He only
took four and now, yes,obviously you want him to shoot better than
twenty five percent, but he doesn'tneed to shoot eight three pointers in a
game. But he also doesn't needto shoot one. He needs to be
in that three to four range.If he can knock a couple of those
(09:01):
down, that's going to create sucha advantage for Clemson because now you're going
to have to guard Chase Hunter outon the perimeter. And he's such a
good penetrator that once you come outon the perimeter and try to guard him,
he can blow by people and thenall of a sudden, it's an
advantage he can find the open guy, which typically is PJ. Hall,
(09:22):
or it's Ian Shefflin, or it'san RJ. Godfrey, that he can
get into the action one of thosetwo players. And also you have to
look at how Chase Hunter's body languagewas completely different in this game. He
looked intentional, he looked aggressive,he looked motivated, and in that Boston
(09:43):
College game, he just didn't havethat same type of intensity that you normally
see from Chase Hunter. And heseemed like a man on a mission with
a aspect of redemption on his mindthat he wanted to come out and set
the tone pretty early for the time, and I think it carried over and
we saw that and to that pointyou could see the chef he took over
(10:07):
and he was the man out therejust continuing to showcase just how vital he
is for the Tigers, and evenfor PJ. Hall sitting there playing only
basically nineteen minutes. Foul trouble wasan issue, but there was a part
of that where the guard play wasso good the for Clemson it didn't really
matter. No, it didn't matter. We had contributions from everybody on this
(10:30):
team. Jack Clark's defense was amazingas always. Six points, eight rebounds,
four assists. So if he playeda little more time there maybe a
triple double for him. But againthat's Jack Clark's game there on the wing,
playing good defense. The bench outscores New Mexico thirteen to twelve,
and you mentioned r J Godfree sixpoints, Chauncey Wiggins with five points as
well, and really one of thedefining moments in this game going back and
(10:54):
forth early with the Lobos. It'sbeen a season of runs, and we
talked about it. Clemson goes outto a thirty to eleven advantage on a
nineteen to two run, and that'skind of the story for Clemson this year
in a lot of ways, storyof runs. When they win, they
tend to go on runs like thatnineteen to two against a very good team
(11:15):
with a lot of players in NewMexico that can score. That's getting it
done right there. Hold that teamto two points in that span of time
and to get it done offensively.That was the defining moment of the game.
My thought, Oh, no question, and it was all predicated by
defense, yep, that you canbe able to slow New Mexico down and
then be able to create some turnovers. And not that New Mexico had a
(11:35):
large number of turnovers. I meanthirteen turnovers. That's not excessive, that's
more than New Mexico averages, butit just seemed that they couldn't get anything
going offensively. And Donovan Dent,one of their star guards there, he
just couldn't do really anything at all. And that was a big part of
(11:56):
why Clemson was able to clamp downon those guards. And once you were
able to do that, then theyput so much pressure on themselves to try
to hit outside shots and they continuejust to forget about JT. Toppin,
who was a Freshman of the Yearin the Mountain West and you should be
getting him involved quite a bit.But kudos to Clemson for again putting that
(12:18):
type of pressure, not allowing theentry passes into top and also and so
you had that scenario playing out wherejust offensively, New Mexico couldn't get anything
going, and give Clemson a lotof credit for that. Look at Mashburn
and House combined for New Mexico.We talked about Mashburn's tough night one of
eleven, House for fourteen, fiveof twenty five. That's twenty percent from
(12:41):
the floor and combined from downtown twoof fourteen. So again, great job
defensively for Clemson. I did notexpect Mashburn to have that type of night,
but give credit to Clemson's defense becausehe is really one of the key
cogs that makes that thing go togo. One of eleven on that stage.
Disappointing for the second generation player there, mash Furn. Yeah, well,
(13:01):
and I think part of it toois just remember New Mexico had that
run in the Mountain West Conference towin the conference tournament championship and get the
automatic bid. Four games and fourdays to be able to do that,
and that's tough and then have toturn around a short scenario in terms of
(13:22):
preparing for Clemson. You don't knowthe team, and obviously Clemson was in
the same predicament, but Clemson hadmore time as far as rest. They
didn't have more time as far asprep because obviously you didn't know the matchup.
It's just that Clemson had much moretime to rest. And when we
talked to Will Vandervoort the other day, we did talk about that, and
(13:43):
so I'm anxious to talk to himonce again to get his thoughts and from
his perspective being there, could hesee Was there anything with Clemson a little
bit more energy versus New Mexico whoseemed to just be lacking some energy there,
And I think it could be partlythat they didn't have much time to
(14:03):
recover tired legs. It's a littlelike to me on the TV, but
I'm not an expert. Will willjoin us here in a minute to talk
about what that team did to NewMexico. That is Clemson, a team
that wins their first round matchup atthe FedEx Forum. They're back there again
tonight with a six' ten tipoff against Scott Drew's team, a very
good Baylor team. Rich and We'vetalked about this team all season long.
(14:26):
Baylor has a lot of money investedin that program in facilities. They've got
a very strong lineup and we'll getsome insight from not only our good friend
will Vandervoord, but one another here. Later in the show, we'll talk
about the matchups. Also, we'llgo through the brackets, give you a
scoreboard update of what's going on rightnow in the NCAA tournament. As teams
are punching their ticket to the Sweetsixteen, will Clemson be one of them?
(14:48):
We'll find out here shortly six'ten pm tip off from the FedEx
Forum in Memphis. This is theEngles Countdown to tip Off Show on ninety
two point five WeSC Keep It Lockedin Coming up next live from Memphis,
Will Vandervolt from the Clemson Inside checksonye two point five w d S is
(18:02):
the Upstate's new home with a ClemsonTigers shume on the count you down to
(18:25):
tip off in a big, bigway. Here, It's Ingles Countdown to
tip Off Show, John Elist,Richmond Weaver, Trey Falco in the house
as well. Whose bracket remains thebest out of our iHeartRadio Little fun bracket
we're doing here. I think RichmondWeavers in second with a great Bill ellis
over the whistle one hundred. I'mdown there in fifth so I'm just a
you know, tread water. I'mjust trying to trying to find my way
(18:45):
back into this thing. It's beenrough. It's been There's a lot of
basketball left. As long as youhave your final four teams I got intact,
then then you're okay three of them. We'll see how it goes for
some of these teams. Today.Has heclipsed the one hundred mark against utass
stage one O two to sixty five. I'm guessing Zach eat he probably has
about a triple double right now.And this team is on fire, and
(19:08):
they're very very tough to beat.Uh tough to beat in terms of On
the coverage side of things is WillVan Voord from Clemson Insider. He is
live from Memphis getting ready to coverthis game at six' ten pm.
We'll welcome to the show, buddy, Thanks Will, Are you there?
Yeah? Thank you? Guys.Hear there he is. Yes, you're
cutting a little bit of a uhan ocean there. For a minute you
(19:30):
were gurgling, but you're better now. Memphis always UH known for their bad
cell reception, of course, niceyeah, so I apologize if I got
lte, so you are not onlyso you are going to sound good?
Man, Hey, how you been? How's memphistring you? Let's treat me
good. I've probably gained five pounds, you know, good eating, so
(19:51):
that's always good. And then uh, and of course is everything else.
Man, It's been a nice tripobviously, head back home tomorrow, but
hope going home with more basketball workto do. Well, you're doing double
duty here because I saw you onTwitter at Steeler Will And let's just get
a quick note in on the baseballteam. How about that? Yeah,
(20:11):
Richmond, two straight days, thisteam has overcome huge deficits late in the
doing there. How about this baseballteam right now? Yeah, give very
back into this guy's credit. Yesterdaythey came back with eight runs in the
bottom of the night to beat FloriaState nine to eight. The unbelievable come
back. And then today to doit again. They're down eleven to two
going into the stick and they comeon and win fourteen to twelve. Just
(20:34):
unbelievable. What this team is andhow they just so resilient and don't give
up. And now twenty one andtwo and six, five and one in
ACC play I believe, or maybeseven in one. Excuse me an ACC
play. I can't figure it.I can't remember exactly what the numbers are,
but they're in good shape, somaybe five and one. They play
two conference games, five and onea conference play, So off to a
(20:57):
good starting conference play. They gotin two good wins against two top ten
teams, and you know now theyget ready for Coast to Carolina in the
midweek and then got a big seriesdown at Miami next week. So also
a good start twenty one and two. I don't think anybody can complaining with
that, not at all. MarchMadison, the Diamond and March Madness back
on the hardwood, as will vandervotas our guests from the Clemson Insider covering
(21:19):
the Tigers run through the NCAA Tournament, a run that feels a little more
real now after getting the big winover New Mexico, a win in which
we'll Rich and I were talking aboutdefense. Defense overall was just the key
here, holding Mashburn to one ofeleven, House to four, fourteen,
Dent three of eighteen, the bigthree for that team, just not getting
it done. But credit Brad Brunell'sdefense and a number of players, including
(21:41):
Ian Shefflin and Jack Clark for beinga part of that. Yeah, yeah,
absolutely, those two guys were unbelievablein guarding House and Mashburn and just
as you just mentioned it, anoutstanding jobs shutting them down. And then
you know, when you look atthe fact that held them to thirteen percent
from behind the arc, which isa Clemson record in the NCAA tournament,
(22:02):
as well as they held of twentynine percent overall from the field, which
is the second best mark in Clemsonhistory in the nc DOUBLEA Tournament game.
So just outstanding numbers from the defensiveside. And then you know, you
look at Chase Hunter and the wayhe played on the offensive side. Twenty
one points, six assists. Imean, you know he was four he
(22:22):
was four ten what was it,I can't remember, eight or fourteen from
the field, I believe, andhad a couple of steals as well on
a block shot. I mean,his numbers were outstanding as well, and
a good win that got him going. And now, of course, you
know, all you do is youplay a better version of New Mexico today,
That's right. Yes, As we'recontinuing with Will Vanderboard of The Clemson
(22:45):
Insider, and so Will, Ido have to ask you about Chase Hunter
because we talked about it specifically theother day and during the show, and
how important was going to be forChase Hunter to obviously he redeemed himself from
that Boston College debacle for all ofthe Tigers obviously not just that Chase Hunter
(23:07):
had a bad performance, but obviouslycollectively Clemson did. But they're in person,
just what I could see on theTV screen, the body language was
completely different for Chase Hunter. Andfrom your perspective, it just I wonder
what did you see there with ChaseHunter, because he seemed intentional, he
(23:27):
seemed aggressive, he seemed energized,and I do believe the other players for
Clemson fed off of his energy.Absolutely they did. He was very aggressive
right from the get go. Thesecond possession of the game for Clemson,
he goes straight to the hole anddrives it in and you know, all
of a sudden, you know,that kind of got him going. And
(23:48):
Brad mentioned yesterday he was asked aboutit, and Brad Brad said he took
Chase aside after the Boston College gameand said, listen, you know we
need you to play well. However, there's certain things you do when you
play well, there's certain things youdo when you're playing bad what we need
you to do, and they kindof pointed out what those things were on
both ends, and he's like,you know, what we need you to
(24:11):
do is kind of understand what's whyit's causing you when you do play bad,
why you're doing it, and thenwhen you're playing well, what you're
doing that makes you get in thiskind of rhythm. And I think a
part of that aggressiveness, as yousaid, his body language was there and
things of that nature. I thinka part of that was Brad pointing out
to him saying, hey, look, you do this really really well.
You need to focus on that andnot so much focus on these other things
(24:33):
because when he starts pressing like wesaw against Boston Child's and he does things
that he's not good at, which, guys, what we know is the
three point shot that's not Chase Hunter'sthing. Now, he made a huge
one in the corner, right,but he only shot four, and that's
what they need to make sure thathe's not over extending because that's not his
shot. His shot is to getinto the paint and get to the free
throw line and create that way,which is what he did the other day,
(24:56):
and they need more of that todayin this game. Guys, I
went and looked it up. WhenChase Hunter plays well, Clinton is twenty
two and four. Yeah, whenChase Hunter plays bad, they're oh and
seven. That will he is definitelythe key to the game. Yeah.
I've been saying that this whole entireseason that so much focus is obviously on
PJ. Hall and Joseph Gerard thethird and his ability to knock down the
(25:19):
three point shot, but everything,in my opinion is predicated on Chase Hunter
and how he plays because he cancreate so much more spacing offensively for the
Tigers, because if he can hitone or two of those three point shots,
then all of a sudden, youdo have to come out and guard
him, and then he can blowby people, and then now the Tigers
(25:41):
are an advantage because he's either gettingto the rim or he's finding the open
man, and that's a difference makerfor the Tigers. He doesn't need to
shoot six or seven three pointers eachgame, but if he can shoot three
or four, that's in his Willelhouseand just make one or two and then
all of a sudden, that changesthings offensively for Clemson, absolutely, Richard.
(26:02):
And that's what Brad said yesterday.It's a matter of him just,
you know, taking what the defensegives him and letting the offense run through
him. And when the offense runsthrough him, then it's more it's more
balanced, it's more efficient. Bratttalked last week with me about how the
guard's got to be efficient and theygot to play in an efficient manner,
and that's what he's talking about.When you look at the numbers, twenty
(26:22):
one point six assists, there's nomore efficiency than that, exactly in other
and it's just what you said,Richmond. What he's doing is he's creating
off the dribble. He's finding guysthat are open. And when he starts
making plays in the paint in thelane, it forces the defense to have
to collapse and it's going to leaveguys open or you're going to be able
to get the ball inside the PJand N and get those guys involved.
And that's how it all works.It all runs through Chase Hunter. He's
(26:45):
the quarterback of this team. Andlike I said, you know the stats
don't lie. Twenty two and fourplays. Well, I mean that's that's
that's that's all. Twenty two wins. Guys, that's I mean, you
know they're seven when he don't.When he's plays horrible, they're owen seven.
Yeah, it don't matter what thoseother guys do. Right, And
he only had one turnover yesterday oron Friday. Yeah, six assists,
(27:06):
one turnover. You'll take that everyday, right, yes, sir,
every day of the week. Limitthe turnovers and be efficient. Will Vandervoord
from Memphis joining us from the ClemsonInsider. As we're getting ready for big
time game between Baylor and the Tigers, Let's talk for a minute about rest
versus rust. Okay, because wehave talked about this Clemson team will every
week on this show, and howplague they have been, and how light
(27:27):
they've been at practice only sometimes fivesix, seven guys available, and Bradburneal
talked about this in an article youposted at the Clemson Insider. The fact
they had some time out there toget ready for this game, to prepare
mentally physically. How vital was that? And then on the other side,
I think you posted the only timethey've had one day rest all season long,
(27:47):
was before that Davidson game. Sohow vital is it going to be
to turn this thing around quick?Yeah? Now, the good news is
when they've had two days rest,only two days to turn around games,
they're eight and three right, sothat's not too bad. But they've only
done it once when they had oneday rest, and that was against Davidson
back in December at the beginning theseason in one of those preseason tournaments if
(28:08):
you will, or non conference tournaments, I should say so, And they
won an emotional game against you adbefore that Davidson game, and then won
an emotional game against Davidson, Soyou know, that was way back then.
I think because they had that ninedays guys that I think this team
you could tell they were rested rightthe other day, you can see.
(28:29):
I think that still helps today inthis game, because they did a light
practice yesterday, you know, andI think they felt like, maybe,
you know, just kind of workedthe game plan and understanding Baylor's in the
same boat. It's not like Clinton'sdoing it and Baylor didn't have to play.
They both had to play the otherdays in the same boat. So
you really can't use that too much. It's just how you manage your time
prior to the tournament. And Ithink Clinton, obviously, the way they
(28:51):
played in that first game showed theymanaged their time very well. And now
you see how that carries over intothis game. Just playing less than forty
eight hours later playing another game,and so gonna be interesting to watch the
night. You know which team tiresout first. The key I think guys
for Clemson in this game is theyneed them to do just what they've done
when they played teams like Baylor.Make them play half court offense. Yeah,
(29:12):
make them play half court defense whenteams usually who are not used to
that, who are customing to runup and down the floor, they get
more tired when they have to playdefense. Baylor gives up seventy one points
a game. That tells you allyou need to know that if you get
them in a half court set andit can wear them down, you can
have some offensive production yourself. Ithink Clempson's going to go with the same
(29:33):
game plan they did the other day. Try to limit the turnovers, try
to you know, one thing theydid great was transition defense the other day,
right, and I think you gotto do that again in this game,
even more so in this game,because man, these guys are fast.
Man, I watched them the otherday up close and personal. They're
very fast teams. So Clemtson's gotto get back and have good transition defense
and make them play half court offenseand defense. Particularly. You know you
(29:56):
want to be intentional and deliberate onthe offensive end, Well, you're letting
that shot clock go down to fiveseconds every time before you really shoot.
The reason why you want to makethem play defense because the other day they
did that to New Mexico and theywore them down, and that's why New
Mexico couldn't make a shot. Ithink in the second half they were just
too tired because they spent so muchenergy on the defensive side. As we're
talking with Will Vandervoord of the ClemsonInsider, as you're listening to the Eagles
(30:18):
Countdown to tip Off show right hereon ninety two point five of EESC with
the Clemson Tigers tipping off at six' ten pm against the Baylor Bears.
They're in the West Region bracket,and so Will, I think what you
summed up perfectly early on was nowthe Tigers face a better version of New
Mexico with Baylor because there are somany similarities between the two teams with this
(30:45):
one key caveat, and it's ohso important because you talk about reason will
yes, he's missy. That isa guy. Yes, watch out there
at center. How athletic key isand how hard that's going to be.
And so I've got two points tothat. One is offense efficiency. We
talked about that, and Baylor iselite when you look at it from an
(31:08):
efficiency standpoint when they have the ball. And also they are a team who
can knock down the three point shot. So this is going to be a
challenge out on the perimeter for theTigers. But then also, as you
mentioned, their center, so Tigersalso have to stay out of foul trouble.
Will they do? They're post guys, all three of them right when
(31:30):
you look at it, And that'sthat's talking about Godfrey. Also, Ian
Shefflin, PJ Hall, and Godfreygot to play better and be smarter right
when defending this guy. I imagineprobably Ian's going to Ian's gonna probably get
to get them because PJ. Idon't know, if you don't want PJ
get them because you don't want pJ to get foul trouble not to say
(31:51):
that. Ian's probably a little bitmore smarter defensively when it comes to things
than PJ is at times, andI think that's probably why he'll draw that
assignment. So it'll be interesting tosee if you know, how Clemson attacks
him and with Ian also, youwant to you can get be a little
more physical with Ian, and Ithink that's what they're going to try to
attack him, just to be alittle bit more physical. It's not like
(32:14):
he's like dominating the thing. He'sonly you know, eleven point seven points
and you know, you know,I think five rebounds things. It's not
like he's like killing it where he'slike, you know, you know,
what's his name, Ediot Purdue.You know he's not He's not He's not
that guy, thirty and twenty guy. You know, he's he's a he's
eleven and six guy, which tellsyou, as you mentioned Richmond, he's
very athletic and he can do thingswith the basketball, make plays and shoot
(32:37):
outside. And that's kind of youknow, I hate to say it this
way because he probably would beat thesne out of me if we were in
a boxing match, But he's ahe's a finesse guy. Is that's right,
And that's yes. I think that'swhere Cleinson can try to try to
be more physical and Clemson is aphysical and you know, Scott Drew talked
about that yesterday, how physical Clintonis probably the most physical team they're gonna
(33:00):
play all year, That's what hesays. He says, he says,
they're gonna bang you, They're gonnaweigh you down, They're going to try
to frustrate you on the defensive side, and so they're kind of telling their
players, let them know, thisisn't you know a team that runs up
and down the court. This isthe team that's going to body you and
bang you and they're gonna make youwork for everything you get and try to
be physical. So I think Scottdrews trying to get his team prepared mentally
(33:23):
for what this game is going tobe like, because it's gonna be probably
the most physical challenge they've had tothis point. Clinton's going to be a
definitely challenge because of the way theycan shoot, and then having the big
man that's different from Clemsonson cover andthen on the other side, I think
Clemson's fiscality is different for them,and to get the win against New Mexico
with Joseph Girard going two of twelvefrom the field, Look, I kind
(33:45):
of look at that as a positivefor Clemson and that positive not that that's
a good thing, but that's oneof his off nights. You would assume
a better night from the floor herefrom the transfer from sarahcuse your thoughts on
getting Girard going early in terms ofperimeter shooting and what impact that could have
in this game. Yeah, reallyworried about a little bit about Joe because
he's had two halves in a rownow where he struggled. He struggled in
(34:07):
the second half against Boston College wherehe went oh for six or seven,
and then he went oh for tenthe other day in the second half,
and you know, just really didn'tplay well the entire game. So you
know, he's you concerned about howhe's not making shots like he was making
early in the year, and youwonder what the reason is and why he
(34:28):
is struggling the way he is rightnow, And I guess we'll find that
out. But yeah, I thinkwhat you need to do to get his
confidence going is maybe figure a wayto set a string up high and get
him you know, some looks.He had some looks the other day guys,
and he just missed them. Imean they were there and he was
And the thing that was interesting tome was they were they were short.
Yeah, nothing was coming off theback iron. They were coming off the
front of the iron, which Richman, as you know, that tells me
(34:49):
there's something with I don't know,with his energy level or things of that
nature that's causing him maybe to gettired later in the game, because that's
usually when guys are short the rim, it just usually means they're tired.
And that's what we saw the otherday out of him. So comps that
needs him, for whatever reason,to get out of this funk and maybe
not insert so much energy in thefirst half, maybe save something up for
the second half. Well, you'vecovered this team for a long time,
(35:13):
You've been through the highs and lowsof this program. Just what would it
mean for this Clemson program to advanceto a Sweet sixteen. Well, it
means a lot, right, IMean they did it six years ago,
so I hadn't done it six yearsand you know, it'll be something that
would be big for them, youknow, and to beat a team who
has recently won a national championship inBaylor, I think that would mean a
(35:36):
lot at the same time, andso to do it not just getting there,
but doing it against the team thata lot of people expect to be
in the Sweet sixteen, so inBaylor. So I think it would mean
a lot to this program to kindof get that win. And then you
know, you go to side ofthe bracket where you know, yeah,
you're gonna be the underdog against Arizona, but you know, if you get
(36:00):
past them, you got North Carolinaand that's the team you beat, right
And so they got to feel reallygood if they can get past this challenge
today. They like their chances tomaybe do something that's never been done to
Cleintson. There's a couple teams thatthey're familiar with, Alabama still in the
mix as well, and we'll seewhat happens with this whole deal is Clemson's
looking to get one more under theirbelt and make another Sweet sixteen appearance.
(36:21):
It's been a minute. It's beena minute since we talked to Will Vandervore.
Good to catch up with you livefrom Memphis covering this game for the
Clemson Insider. We'll hope to talkto you next week, my friend,
I guys hope, so man,that means that means we're in Los Angeles
and we're covering a chance to goto the league. Yeah, I get
you pack the sunscreen. Buddy,will Vandervoort joining us live from Memphis,
getting ready for the big game todaybetween the Baylor Bears and the Clemson Tigers.
(36:44):
Tip off approximately six' ten pm. Don Munson, Tim Bray on
the call. Good to see Timgiving up a little golf activity here for
the Golf Channel to call these gamesbecause they mean a lot to this program
right now, a lot. You'regonna hear more from the Clemson Tigers here
coming up shortly. Rich and Ihave some thoughts on the brackets. Right
now, we'll give you some livescore board updates. There was another big
(37:05):
game earlier today that was a closeone, a great game between Colorado and
uh obviously who did Colorado play?I'm Smarquette, Marquette, that's right,
I almost say Smart, Yes,Shaka Smart finally getting done in the tournament.
That's been the big theme with him. And more games coming up here,
including Duke taking on the Dukes.James Madison that's coming up here shortly.
Clemson tipping off at six' ten. We got you covered here on
(37:27):
the Englands Countdown to tip Off Show. Much more to come right here on
WSC statis ninety two point five.W s E is the Upstate's new home
(41:45):
with a Clemson Tigers count you downto tip off. Clemson take it on
(42:07):
Baylor for the right to fight intothe Sweet sixteen. It's been a minute
since Clemson has had that luxury,but they're going forward all this year and
they've got the roster at least,we feel like in this studio to maybe
pull it off. We'll see ifthey can get by Baylor in this game
and then see if they can matchup with a familiar foe down the road.
It's the Engles count Down to tipOff Show, getting you ready for
(42:28):
Clinton Baylor. I'm John Ellis,That's Richmond Weaver. That's Trey Falco,
who continues to lead our iHeart Radiobrackets right now at the moment, rich
is a close second. I amfalling a part of the seams. Kank
Spencer, our friend up there inAsheville at iHeartRadio is in the mix.
My dad Bill Ellis is in themix, and my son Jonathan's having a
rough go of it in the secondround. But such is the brackets.
(42:49):
You know, they have all beenblown up in the first round anyway,
with just all survival mode right now, and as we talked about earlier,
some games have gone down today andsome games have gone final punching their tickets
to the Sweet sixteen right now willbe Purdue. No big surprise Utah State
though it was a great story.They got the big win. They're coming
out of the Mountain West. Purdueis just too good. We talked about
(43:10):
the top of the show with ZachEdens not just eating that team as a
whole, very complete from Matt later, Yeah, they're balanced, and then
there was a reason why Purdue hasbeen up there as a number one team
overall for this season. Obviously,Yukon has spent to the most time as
the top team in the country,but Purdue is definitely one of those teams
(43:31):
that is a true contender for anational championship because they are in the top
twenty in offensive efficiency, they're inthe top forty and defensive efficiency, so
they do so many things so welland for a period of time Utah State
was able to compete because they weregetting some open shots and Purdue seemed to
(43:53):
be playing lackluster defense. And thenfor the last seven minutes of that first
half, Purdue stepped up their defensivepressure. And then also I felt Utah
State just starts settling way too muchon quick shots and trying to hit from
downtown, and that's just a recipefor a disaster. And then obviously when
(44:14):
you can't compete in the paint onthe opposite side with Zach Edy just doing
Yeoman's like work, once again,it's just too tough to defend there.
For Utah State entertaining game. Earliertoday, I mentioned the team I finally
figured out who what is Marquette,as Richmond said, eighty one seventy seven
win over a dangerous Colorado team thathad them on the ropes late. Richmond,
(44:37):
a heck of a job by Coloradogetting as far as a ten seed,
and Marquette the two seed. Somethings to clean up, but still
a dangerous team. Is a twoseed in this tournament of the South Region,
Oh, no question. Tyler Kolloch, who was last year's Biggieast Player
of the year. He's finally healthy. He missed six or seven games with
a bleak injury earlier this season,and he was the difference maker today just
(44:59):
being the steady Eddie type of pointguard that Marquette needed. And give a
lot of credit to Colorado. Thisis a team that has played quite a
bit over the past a couple ofweeks and obviously have that game against Florida
and how they were able to getthat victory to face Marquette and right there
(45:21):
at the end of the game geta crazy bounce there from the corner as
the shot goes in to beat Florida. But give Colorado a lot of credit
that they were falling behind early inthe first half and just hung around.
And so many times we've seen inthis tournament you allow a team just to
hang around, and that's where itcan be dangerous. And that's why I've
(45:42):
got to mention a team that didhang around. And I'm anxious to see
how this game is going to belater. And that's that late when you
talked about with Yale taking on SanDiego State. Yes, and so this
is in life. There's times thatyou do just have to enjoy life and
and laugh and and just take incomedy at times. So on X or
(46:08):
Twitter that this is absolutely fantastic.So the Twitter handle at Yale m BB,
which makes sense, It makes sense, that's Yale, it's universal basketball.
Okay. Well, so that isnot the Twitter handle or X handle
(46:30):
for Yale men's basketball. Their Twitterhandle or X handle is at Yale Capital
m Basketball. And so there's there'sa tweet going around that says, our
notifications are blowing up with basketball tweets. This is from at Yale MBB.
(46:55):
Again, our notifications are blowing upwith basketball tweets, but we are the
Yale Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry account.The men's basketball account posted the spider Man
meme I'm putting each other like who'sover here? By the way, In
case you're wanting to know, thisis what happens with Marge Maddens. You
(47:16):
gotta love it, love it.The Yale MBNB is the Yale Molecular Biophysics
and Biochemistry and they put it intheir profile, not Yale in Basketball,
and their tagline is Bola Bola.Well, I'll tell you who's not laughing
(47:37):
right now, and it's not justBruce Pearl, as they took it on
the chin from Yale, not thebiophysics folks to the basketball folks, the
thirteen seed Yale, as you mentioned, seventy eight, seventy six. But
a tough front so far for theSEC and large. A lot of SEC
teams are taking it on the chinright now, including the team we talked
about earlier, Colorado beating Florida dramaticfashion back on Friday one two to one
(47:59):
hundred. So you've seen a lotof these Southeastern Conference teams fall here early
on, and certainly some of theaction from yesterday. We got to talk
about some scores there as well,as we're starting to look forward to the
tip off here at six' tenfor Clemson Baylor. Not a lot of
upsets on Saturday. Dayton loses toArizona, so the two seat advances back
to the sweet sixteen in the WestRegion, Kansas, there's your upset of
(48:22):
the day, I suppose, althoughthe Zags they're always prime for tournament play.
A dominant win, and coach selfafter the game was talking about I'm
already thinking about next season. Yeah, and there's a lot of scrutiny with
Bill self right now. But ifyou go back and actually, this is
the danger of just having a headline, and especially when you see it on
social media, because go back andlisten to Bill self the entire entity of
(48:49):
the quote, and you have amuch better perspective it was. It's not
taken out of context, but there'snot enough context with it. Understand that
there's more to it, and itdoes not sound as harsh as it is
that oh, he was already givenup on the season. He was not
saying that at all. But withthat said, Gonzaga this is their ninth
(49:15):
ninth consecutive Sweet sixteen. So thisis a team that is no stranger to
advancing in the NCAA Tournament under MarkFugh. So as much as people want
to say it's an upset by seednumber, yeah, I understand that,
But my goodness, Gonzaga is aprogram that just continues to shine in the
(49:36):
month of March. Yeah, they'regoing back to the Sweet sixteen. North
Carolina is as well, eighty fivesixty nine win. Just too much talent
on that team. I saw statearlier where their average age is more than
that of the Oklahoma City Thunder.Right now, that is a veteran team
and they look like it against MichiganState. Well, and that's one of
the things that Jay Wright had talkedabout when you saw Oakland and beat Kentucky
(50:00):
and how important it is as faras now with nil you're having teams that
can be older teams because players canstay in college because they now have the
opportunity they don't have to jump.But and so you have these older guys
that can transfer to these different programs, they can stay in college. But
(50:22):
then when you have a collective unitlike Kentucky, when those guys are just
going to be one and done andthey just try to come together for one
period of time, a small periodof time, it's just too difficult to
end today's landscape of college basketball becausethere's no team aspect to it. And
you're seeing again how important it iswhen you come together collectively as a team,
(50:46):
you can do much more than youare just a hodgepodge of great talent.
I think Clemson's a good example ofthat this year. They talked about
it in the press conference last week. He heard it on the last show
we did here I was Stay gota big win over wat Washington. They
advanced to the Sweet sixteen in theEast Region. We talked about Oakland dramatic
finish in C State. Congrats tothe wolf Pack. We didn't think much
(51:07):
of this during the regular season,but here's Kevin Keats not only saving his
job but getting extension. Now somebonuses mixed in, and that number eleven
seed in C State is moving onin the South Region. That's how quickly
things can change. And I've actuallywent back and looked at some of INC
State's not necessarily the games in termsof video, but just going back and
(51:30):
looking at some of the stats andlooking at their record, and in all
honesty, INC State is a betterteam than they are on paper as far
as what their record was, especiallyhitting a lull there during the mid part
of the season, and I thinkthat it got overshadowed, and then obviously
(51:52):
the big run that they had.Not saying that that right now, this
is not the true NC State team. I do believe they're playing with so
much confidence right now, but Ido believe that an eleven seed for NC
State, I think they were trulymore of like a nine seed rather than
eleven seed. Well, that's thenarrative that Brad Burndol's talked about. This
(52:14):
sort of disrespect and not so manywords that the ACC has continued to garner
here and ironically enough, they're playinga big twelve team today. Clemson is
so a lot it's staked there.From that end, Tennessee, Rick Barnes
gets his former team in Texas sixtytwo to fifty eight. They move on
Illinois. No big surprise here,eighty nine to sixty three win over Ducane,
(52:34):
and Creighton gets a big win overOregon. We'll talk more about what's
going on right now. Is Dukeis underway against James Madison score board update,
and we'll talk about the Clemson gameagainst Baylor, the matchups, and
some other games that are heading yourway. This evening is March Madness continues.
This is the Engles Countdown to tipOff Show ninety two point five WSCA
(55:52):
Nubey two point five WDS is theUpstate's new home with a Clemson Tigers Yes,
with the right to go to theswitch sixteen on the line to Clemson
(56:13):
Tigers tangling with the Baylor Bears upthere in Memphis. Don Munson, Tim
Burray gonna take over here in afew short minutes. John Ellis, Richmond
Weaver, Trey Falco is always herewith the Engles countdown to tip Off show,
hoping to give you one or twoor three more of these coming up
next week in the following weeks.But first things first, as we look
at some other games going on rightnow, du because ahead early on James
(56:36):
Madison, but let's turn our attentionquickly rich to this matchup today. Baylor's
a different animal than New Mexico.They've got side inside you've talked about,
and a couple of very proficient scorerson this team. Yeah, and you
look at Jalen Bridge's senior there forthe Baylor Bears, and what Jacobe Walter
can do as a freshman at nineteenpoints in that opening round game against Colgate
(56:57):
and then Jayden Dunn had fifteen.But it's e Missy the athletic seven footer.
He's a tough guy to contend with. And again, not that he's
going to be able to pound thepaint necessarily, but he just does so
many things so well, and hecan be a rim protector also, So
Clemson's going to have to be ableto have an opportunity to get some points
in the paint. But at theend of the day, just like when
(57:19):
we talked with will Vandervoord earlier.I mean, it is going to be
about Clemson and Chase Hunter being ableto hold onto the ball and run some
offensive sets and not allow Baylor toget out and push their efficiency from an
offensive standpoint, because that's what theydo so well. They're not a necessarily
a fast paced team. They wantto probably run just a little bit faster
(57:44):
than Clemson does. But what theydo so well is that they get in
transition and so they get defenses backon their heels, and they have such
great offensive spacing that when you canput it download to Missy, then he
can kick it back out and theyrotate the ball so well with their spacing,
then they get these open three pointshots. They're shooting almost forty percent
(58:07):
from beyond the arc, and sowhen you have that type of in out
perspective from an offensive standpoint, itmakes it very hard to defend. And
that's why Clemson's going to have todo a fantastic job being able to close
out on the perimeter. And mythought on this, you've seen a lot
of young first second year coaches inthis tournament right now, not in this
game. You've got a couple ofcoaches in Brad Burnell and Scott Drew,
(58:30):
who's been there forever, by theway, twenty one seasons at Baylor.
He's done a great job over eighthundred and fifty career wins combined between the
two. So you look at coaching, you look at managing the game.
That's a big aspect of this aswell as Clemson looks to bring home a
Sweet Sixteen appearance for Tigers fans thatare starving for on right now, no
doubt about it. Tip off cominghere at six' ten in just a
(58:52):
few short minutes. Don Munson TimBurray takeover on the Clemson Athletic Network keeping
locked in here to the ninety twopoint five wsc all evening long for Clemson
Tigers Basketball, for Trey Falco producingfor Richmond Weaver. I am John Ellis.
This has been Engles Countdown to tipOff Show. Stay tuned for the
tip off between Baylor and Clemson withthe Sweet Sixteen on the line. Y'all
(59:15):
have a great evening. We'll seeyou next time.
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