Clemson and No. 12 Alabama will bring winning streaks into their matchup Wednesday night in the ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The Tigers are riding a four-game streak after walloping Alabama A&M 92-56 on Friday.
The Crimson Tide, in turn, have won their last two times out, most recently 105-72 over Maryland on Wednesday to finish the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.
In the rout of visiting Alabama A&M, Clemson (7-1) won for the ninth straight time on its home court over the past two seasons and received a strong showing from Jestin Porter, a transfer from Middle Tennessee.
Porter broke out of a slump by scoring 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers. The effort continued a recent hot streak for Porter, who scored in double figures for the third straight game after failing to do so in his first five outings.
Porter’s play in the Charleston Classic last month was so exceptional that he earned MVP honors in the Palmetto Bracket.
“He’s a shot-maker,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said of Porter, who is averaging 11.0 points per game. “We want him to be aggressive. We’re trying to find him when he’s open. I think he’s getting more comfortable playing in our system and style. You’re seeing a guy who’s finding ways to make baskets.”
Carter Welling leads the balanced Tigers with 11.6 ppg, while fellow forward RJ Godfrey adds 11.3 and averages a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game.
In addition to facing Alabama (5-2), Clemson will continue its tough stretch of play when it meets No. 9 BYU next Tuesday in the Jimmy V Classic in New York.
The Crimson Tide has suffered a pair of setbacks against ranked teams — Purdue and Gonzaga — but has responded with routs of UNLV and Maryland to get back on track for the challenge tournament between two of basketball’s best conferences.
Alabama went 2-1 in the Las Vegas event, and coach Nate Oats liked his team’s improvement.
“We got better,” he said. “So the goal of getting better, we got better. Goal of winning (the tournament), we didn’t achieve that.”
The Crimson Tide have been hampered by injuries, which started with a preseason foot injury to Jalil Bethea and has the Miami transfer guard sidelined indefinitely.
Transfer forward Keitenn Bristow missed the tourney finale against Maryland with a right leg injury, putting him on the bench with senior guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr., out the entire tournament.
Wrightsell, who last played two weeks ago in a 90-86 win over then-No. 8 Illinois, is averaging 9.3 points on 37% shooting.
Labaron Philon Jr. tops the club with 20.6 ppg and has the game-high amount in five of seven games. He also leads the team with 5.7 assists.
Wednesday will mark a rematch of an NCAA Elite Eight contest in the West Region on March 30, 2024, a game in which Alabama knocked off Clemson 89-82 to advance to the Final Four.
