The Clemson Tigers have had to listen to all the doubters since Donte Grantham suffered a season-ending knee injury in January. No one gave Clemson much of a chance to do anything more than get to the NCAA Tournament, and many called for the Tigers to be upset in their opening game. The Tigers persevered and easily covered on the CBB betting line in a win over New Mexico State.
Clemson is now looking to make its doubters eat even more crow with a win over the Auburn Tigers on Sunday night.
This war on the floor will go down Sunday, March 18, 2018, at 7:10 p.m. ET at Viejas Arena in San Diego, California. The game will be televised live on TBS. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game throughout March Madness.
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Auburn is somewhat fortunate to be here. The Tigers had an awful night of shooting in their first- round matchup against College of Charleston, hitting 35.6 percent of their field goals, 20.8 percent of their three-point attempts and 46.9 percent from the free throw line. However, the defense was fantastic and led the team to a victory. Auburn forced 21 turnovers and limited Charleston’s shooting numbers too in order to eke out a victory.
For Clemson, the story was the guard play. The Tigers’ three starting guards combined to go 25-42 against New Mexico State, coming up big on a night where the team didn’t have much else going for it. The frontcourt struggled a bit, but the backcourt ensured that Clemson was able to cover the CBB betting odds in the win.
Look for Auburn to be a slight favorite in this one. The Tigers from Alabama had much lower odds to win the NCAA Tournament than their counterparts from South Carolina, and many will look for Auburn to bounce back after a poor performance.
Matchup to Watch
Clemson’s defense has paced the team during its recent winning streak. The Tigers are allowing opponents to shoot just 41 percent from the field and were able to hold the Aggies under 39 percent on Friday night in San Diego. The front court is typically really good at protecting the paint and not allowing easy buckets, but this team can be beat from the outside. Clemson is outside of the top 200 teams in college basketball in three-point defense.
This Auburn team counts on outscoring its opponent, which makes it all the more incredible that it won despite shooting so poorly against Charleston. Auburn doesn’t shoot a great percentage from the field, but is in the top 20 in points per game because it forces the action and gets to the line a lot.
Player to Watch
For the second straight game, Auburn’s Bryce Brown struggled from the floor and the team can’t afford for that to happen against Clemson. Brown is the main playmaker for Auburn. He can get to the hole on his own and isn’t afraid to fire away from three either.
Brown’s only real role on the team is to hit his shots. He doesn’t pick up a lot of rebounds or assists, but is the team’s primary option from three and is asked to create when the shot clock is winding down. Lately, that’s been an issue, but he should have some success against Clemson.
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Under is something to keep an eye on in this one depending on the total, and if it comes out north of 140, don’t be able to put a play on the under.
For a side, Clemson is worth a shot on the moneyline. This team has been playing well even after the loss of Grantham and their style of basketball works better than Auburn’s at this time of the season.
NCAAB Basketball Betting Odds: Clemson 69 Auburn 64
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