Clemson Tigers (20-8) vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-17)
March 2, 2024 7:45 pm EDT
The Line: Notre Dame Fighting Irish +7.5; Over/Under: -
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The Clemson Tigers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish meet Saturday in college basketball action from Joyce Center. Clemson enters this one at 20-8 overall after a win over Pittsburgh. As for Notre Dame, they’re 11-17 overall and coming off a victory versus Wake Forest. Let’s get into our Clemson vs. Notre Dame prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Clemson Tigers
The Tigers lost seven of their first 21 games this year versus Memphis, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Duke and Virginia. Clemson is a nice 6-1 since then with wins over North Carolina, Syracuse, Miami, Georgia Tech, Florida State and Pittsburgh.
Matched up against Pittsburgh on Tuesday, the Tigers came out of the locker room with a 31-27 deficit. Clemson fought back on a 42-31 run from there and took the comeback win 69-62, though. Ian Schieffelin, Chase Hunter and Joseph Girard each scored a team-high 15 points in the victory.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Over on the Notre Dame side, their year began on a 7-9 stretch. The Irish would then fall to Florida State, Boston College (twice), Miami, Virginia, Pittsburgh and Duke over the next seven games. Notre Dame is 4-1 in their last five though, beating Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Louisville and Wake Forest.
In the Wake Forest game on Tuesday, the Irish were trailing 43-38 at the break. Notre Dame hit a 32-22 run in the second half on the way to the comeback victory 70-65. Markus Burton topped the team on his 31 points, three assists, four steals and 11-of-11 from the line.
ANDREW’S FREE CLEMSON VS NOTRE DAME PREDICTION
I’ll take a stab on Notre Dame. You could call this one either way, though. The Irish had a slow first half in their latest win over Wake Forest and eventually shot a tepid 37.9 percent from the field. Notre Dame was great from the line (19-of-22) however, and scored 13 points off 12 Deacons turnovers. That makes 70 or more points in four of the last five games—a 4-1 run.
As for Clemson, they’re playing quite well over the last seven games and coming off a comeback win themselves. The Tigers have scored a nice 69 or more points in each installment of this current 6-1 stretch. That means the Irish will have to get it going on offense in order to dictate the pace. I’m leaning toward Notre Dame pulling off the cover but it’s a coin flip.
