Will Wade will be coaching against his alma mater when his McNeese State squad takes on Clemson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Wade graduated from Clemson in 2005 and spent time as a Graduate Assistant and Director of Basketball Operations.
Wade is in his second season coaching the Cowboys, winning the Southland Conference and reaching the NCAA tourney in both years. It’s been quite a 180 for a program that hadn’t finished over .500 since 2011-12. McNeese has gone 77-10 since Wade’s arrival.
Clemson (27-6) went to the Elite Eight as a sixth-seed last season and returned a pair of key guys from that run in Chase Hunter and Ian Schieffelin. The Tigers lost to Louisville in this year’s ACC Tournament semifinals.
The Cowboys played two other ranked Power Five teams this season, falling to Alabama, 72-64, and Mississippi State, 66-63.
McNeese was a popular pick to knock off Gonzaga last year in another 5-seed vs. 12-seed matchup, but lost, 86-65. We’ll see if this is the year it gets its first-ever NCAA tourney victory.
McNeese vs. Clemson Odds
Clemson is a 7.5-point college basketball betting odds favorite on BetMGM against McNeese while the Over/Under is at 134.5 points.
The Moneyline for McNeese is at +275 and -350 for Clemson.
McNeese vs. Clemson Channel
The NCAA Tournament matchup between McNeese and Clemson will be televised on truTV.
This Midwest Regional contest tips off at 3:15 p.m. ET Thursday in Providence.
McNeese vs. Clemson Prediction
I predict McNeese covers the 7.5-point spread, but Clemson wins. I also predict this game to go over 134.5 points.
Outside of having Wade on the sideline, I think one of the main reasons McNeese can hang around in this game is its experience. Of all the players that play significant minutes, not one of them is an underclassman. This includes three players who transferred in from Power conferences. Senior Brandon Murray transferred from Ole Miss, junior Quadir Copeland transferred from Syracuse, and junior Bryant Selebangue came from Arizona State.
Not only that, but the Cowboys returned three starters from last year’s squad that garnered NCAA Tournament experience — Christian Shumate, Javohn Garcia, and DJ Richards Jr. It should go without saying that having players who have been on this stage before is important.
The Cowboys love to play fast, create turnovers, and get out in transition. Per KenPom, their defense ranks 18th in the country in turnover rate (21.6%) and they get a steal on 13.3% of possessions, which is 11th most in the country. They also have a lot of length on the perimeter, enough to disrupt the shorter Clemson guards — Copeland is a 6-foot-6 point guard.
The Tigers take care of the ball fairly well (10.5 turnovers per game), but when they do turn it over, they tend to be live ball turnovers. They allow a steal on 9.3% of possessions, which ranks 134th. Clemson point guard Chase Hunter is a sixth-year player and a three-year starter, though, and shouldn’t be fazed in this situation.
However, Chase’s brother, Dillon, suffered a broken hand in the ACC Tournament and won’t be playing. He was Clemson’s energizer and glue guy, and he has a ton of experience. His absence will lead to inexperienced guards trying to fill that void, who could easily get rattled. It’ll be interesting to see how many minutes they play.
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Clemson’s defense is one of the best in the country and has an adjusted defensive efficiency of 94.7, which ranks 16th. If McNeese can’t get easy buckets off turnovers against Clemson, the Cowboys may struggle to score. Garcia leads McNeese with 12.9 points per game while Saint Louis transfer Sincere Parker averages 12.1. Shumate and Richards both score over 10 PPG.
Hunter paces the Tigers with 16.4 PPG, and Schieffelin averages 12.8 points and 9.8 RPG. Viktor Lakhin and Jaeden Zackery average over 11 PPG.
The Cowboys definitely have upset potential, but I think the Tigers’ defense and frontcourt are what allow them to advance.
McNeese is 2-0 against the spread as an underdog while Clemson is 16-11 as a favorite.
