Selection Sunday has come and gone, and we now know who Iowa will face in its quest to earn its first NCAA Tournament win since the 2021-2022 season.
Iowa learned its NCAA Tournament fate first-round matchup
In his first season with the Hawkeyes, Ben McCollum has guided Iowa back to the Big Dance for the first time since the 2022-2023 season, and they have a difficult ACC opponent in the first round.
Iowa earned a nine-seed in the tournament and will face the eight-seed Clemson Tigers in the first round of the South region.
This will be the first-ever postseason meeting between the two programs, but Iowa holds a slight 3-1 advantage over Clemson in their brief series history.
Early betting projections have a first-round exit in the cards for the Hawkeyes
We have all your betting needs for the Hawkeyes as the battle the Tigers!
Getting to know the Clemson Tigers
Conference: Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
Overall record: 24-10
Conference record: 12-6
Home record: 13-3
Away record: 6-5
Neutral site record: 5-2
Head coach Brad Brownell
Brad Brownell is a veteran head coach who has been at the helm of the Tigers' men's basketball program for 16 seasons, but has 23 years of head coaching experience overall.
Brownell has compiled a 292-196 overall record at Clemson, and his 292 victories are ranked No. 1 overall in Clemson program history.
He has now guided the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament five times, and they have made the field for the past three seasons. Clemson's best finish in the NCAA Tournament under Brownell was reaching the Elite Eight in the 2023-2024 season.
Key players
- Senior RJ Godfrey (guard): 11.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists
- Senior Jestin Porter (guard): 9.6 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists
- Senior Nick Davidson (forward): 9.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists
Projected starters
- No. 10: Jake Wahlin (forward)
- No. 0: RJ Godfrey (guard)
- No. 21: Ace Buckner (guard)
- No. 4: Butta Johnson (guard)
- No. 2: Dillon Hunter (guard)
Potential problems for the Hawkeyes
What Clemson lacks in offense, they make up for in defensive intensity.
The Tigers hold their opponents to under 70 points per game this season (66.7), and they love to get out in transition thanks to their ball pressure.
They don't come up with many steals or blocks, but, like the Hawkeyes, they love to pressure the ball at the point of attack and make opponents rack up unforced errors.
Where Iowa can take advantage
Clemson is not known for its offensive firepower, especially after losing forward Carter Welling in the ACC Tournament.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, Welling tore his ACL and will miss a good amount of time, but even when he was in the lineup, they didn't blow anyone away on offense.
Clemson averages 74.1 points per game on 45.3 percent shooting from the field, 34.1 percent from three-point range, and 72.6 percent from the free-throw line.
Iowa needs to ramp up the defensive pressure to force Clemson into contested shots.
Keys to victory
- Pressure the ball to force Clemson into bad shots
- Take care of the basketball on offense!
- Avoid long scoring droughts