Brad Brownell previews matchup with No. 22 Florida

Clemson head basketball coach Brad Brownell met with the media Thursday afternoon to preview the matchup with No. 22 Florida this weekend.

The Tigers are 8-1 and of to their best start since 2008-09. Including this season, Clemson has started 8-1 a total of 16 times. Out of the previous 15, the Tigers have gone to the postseason 14 times, and six of those trips were to the NCAA tournament.

Brownell said that he was excited about the upcoming trip down to Sunrise, Florida. 

The Tigers will finally be able to play transfer David Skara, who was previously suspended for the first nine regular season games for an NCAA violation that occurred while he was at Valparaiso. The announcement came hours before the season opener versus Western Carolina.

 "It's not as easy as folks realize to bring in a new guy in the middle of the season," Brownell said. "He's going to play; he's going to help us. He's a guy that is going to help us defend multiple positions. He still has to get comfortable because he has not played very much.

"Physically, he is different. He's a big win and is athletic. This isn't an easy game to get thrown back into the wolves to. We're certainly glad we have him."

Brownell was very complimentary of what the Gators do offensively. He said most of their action on offense is going to run through the perimeter. They also have a ton of speed.

"What's super impressive about them is that they play that fast and they really don't turn the ball over," Brownell said. "It's hard to play that fast and not turn the ball over. You have to have great decision makers, and you need to know when to go fast and when to go slow."

While Florida excels in that area, Brownell believes playing fast and careful is something his team needs to work on.

"When we start going to fast, we start throwing the ball all over the place," Brownell continued. "Florida just plays at a speed that really not many teams can match. They are in attack-mode as soon as they step on the court."

Brownell believes that this game against Florida will be a good way to get back on track mentally after a long week of finals for the players. He said the team had been mentally exhausted recently. 

"I felt like our guys were a little stressed out on Saturday against Samford," Brownell said. "I felt like we were tired. It wasn't that we were physically tired, it was that we had so much stuff going on last week with finals... there was a mental fatigue there, and I hope we shake that."

Brownell said that a win in the Sunshine State would be great for Clemson basketball's publicity in that area for recruits. The Tigers already notched a victory in Ohio that may help in recruiting down the road.

"Certainly the same would be true for Florida," Brownell said. "We want to showcase how we do things."

The Tigers and Gators will tipoff at 4:30 Saturday afternoon.

Game Notes:

Clemson (8-1) vs. No. 22/22 Florida (6-3)

Date: Saturday, December 16

Tipoff: 4:30 p.m. ET

Arena: BB&T Center (20,737)

Radio: CTN (Don Munson-pbp; Tim Bourret-color)

TV: FS2 (Justin Kutcher-pbp; Bob Wenzel-color; Jessica Blaylock-sideline)

• Clemson will face Florida for the 20th time in program history and for the first time in 50 years.
• Clemson is 10-9 all-time against the Gators, including 1-1 on a neutral floor.
• Clemson won the first eight games of the series and are since 2-9 in the last 11 contests.
• Both Donte Grantham (975) and Marcquise Reed (982) are closing in on 1,000 career points.
• Clemson is 21-8 all-time on Dec. 16. Under Brad Brownell, the Tigers are 67-29 in Nov./Dec.

Series: Clemson leads 10-9
Streak: Florida has won the last three games of the series, but both programs have not met since the 1957-58 season.

Tiger Tracks:

• Clemson is off to its best start to a regular season since 2008-09.
• Elijah Thomas is one of only 13 players in the country currently averaging 12.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.75 blocks per game.
• Thomas (11 points, 11 rebounds) collected his fifth career double-double and third of the season in a 22-point win over Samford.
• Both Shelton Mitchell and Donte Grantham posted the Tigers’ sixth and seventh 20-point outings this year. It marked Grantham’s second of 2017-18.
• Grantham (975) and Marcquise Reed (982) are both closing in on 1,000 career points.
• Reed officially qualified for the all-time top ten in free throw percentage and currently ranks first (89.6 percent).
• Head Coach Brad Brownell (132 victories at Clemson) is six wins shy of tying and seven shy of passing Oliver Purnell for the third most wins at Clemson.
• Coach Brownell is just one win shy of 300 for his career (299).