After defeating No. 5 Kentucky last week and defeating Miami on the road last weekend, the Clemson basketball team is now ranked No. 16 in the AP poll.

The Tigers (9-1) have had a week off since beating the Hurricanes and now face another tough test when Memphis (7-2) visits Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday. The other Tigers are currently just outside the top 25.

The fact that the game starts at 11 a.m. makes this match a little more challenging. This means foreplay will start bright and early.

“I don’t know if I played at 11 in the morning. I played at 12, but 11 is early,” head coach Brad Brownell said. “Before the game it’s eight o’clock and we’ll probably have a really quick meeting and that’s about all you’ll do. You do most of your work on Thursday and Friday. Of course you have to be aware of your guys and immediately see how they feel.”

These two teams faced off in Memphis last December, with Brownell’s Tigers losing a hard-fought game 79-77. There was a loud crowd at the Fed Ex Forum that day, and Brownell is hoping the Clemson fan base can return the favor on Saturday.

“They hope there is power in the building,” he said. “The fan base can really help us. I know when we played Memphis last year there was a white out and it was electric. It was a tough place to play. We need a similar atmosphere here to give our boys strength and energy. That’s why I’m optimistic we’ll get to Littlejohn for the basketball brunch.”

Another challenge will be slowing down Memphis’ offense. The team currently features four different players averaging double-digit points, led by guard PJ Haggerty, who scores 23 points per game and shoots 44% from distance.

“They have really good guard play,” Brownell said. “Shooting, ability to drive it. Haggerty, he’s great. Could lead the country in guards drawing fouls. It penetrates the color, lives in the color. He can make plays for himself and his teammates. Super dynamic in terms of one-on-one plays, pick-and-rolls.”

This will be one of Clemson’s final non-conference games before fully establishing itself in ACC play. On Tuesday, Brownell’s Tigers travel to Columbia to take on the rival Gamecocks, capping off one of the toughest conferences in the country.

“That’s how you challenge yourself, that’s how you figure things out,” Brownell said. “We definitely learned from our Boise game. We learned recently from our tournament with San Francisco and Penn State, Kentucky, Miami. When you play in good competition you are forced to figure out some things along the way. Different playing styles. Memphis is a team that likes to mix up its defense. There are a lot of things they do, and some of them we’ve seen before.”

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