It's November, and the Owls are Dancing

Just like the title says, the Owls are cruising for a championship in mid November- a Charleston Classic one, that is.

The Owls will be up against a very talented Clemson Tigers team- one that was coincidentally knocked out of last year's field of 64 by Villanova. With close to 5 hours until gametime, we'll take a quick look into this Clemson team, and what the Owls are up against:

The Clemson Tigers went through one of their University's finest basketball years in 2007-8, finishing with an overall record of 24-10. The team made it into the NCAA Tournament last year as the ACC Runner up, giving them a #5 seed. Coach Oliver Purnell's squad was coming into the tournament after a loss to #1 North Carolina, looking to take down a talented Villanova squad.

Unfortunately, Clemson's 17 point lead early in the 2nd half was not enough to hold back the rage of the Wildcasts. Scottie Reynolds and his 21 points gave the push past the Tigers, ending their post season hopes.

Coach Purnell, now in his 6th season with the Tigers, will look to take his hot squad past the Owls. Behind him is a very talented roster. This year, however, the Tigers return with only 2 starters from last season: G/F K.C Rivers (pictured right) and F Trevor Booker. Here's a quick look into the two's statistics so far:

K.C Rivers:14 Points, 1 Assists, .4 Rebounds
Trevor Booker: 12 Points, 2 Assists, 12.5 Rebounds

Both of these players as mentioned are returning from last year, and have had an impact already on this team. It's very early in the season, and you can also see what players in their surrounding cast are coming up big as well:

Sophmore guard Terrence Oglesby has picked up some of the slack, currently leading the team in scoring. Another player to watch out for his Freshman guard Tanner Smith, who scored 11 points against Hofstra in his first action.

Terrence Oglesby:14.5 Points, .5 Assists, 1.5 Rebounds
Tanner Smith:5.5 Points, 1 Assist, 2.5 Rebounds

So far, the two opponents against Clemson haven't been too much. Their first was a 29 point rout over Hofstra, and the other was a 12 point victory last night over TCU. The Tigers arguably have their first challenge this season, coming against a Preseason #31st Temple Owls.

Temple, however, cannot say the same. After a win over ETSU, the Owls played the host team in that of Charleston, and hung onto a 5 point victory. Temple did look somewhat sluggish during Saturday afternoon's game, but will have to rest up and be ready for this talented Clemson team.

"Hoot" to Watch For: Temple's Lavoy Allen (pictured left) is going to have to play well in this afternoon's game. His impressive 13.5 rebounds will need to stay consistent when he battles down low with Trevor Booker. As a team, Temple out rebounds Clemson by 8.5 per game, which means a lot without 7'0" Sergio Olmos.

Clemson, however, shoots for a better percentage then the Owls: their 49% to Temple's 41%.

The game unfortunately will not be televised due to Eagles Post Game Live at 4:00, but can be watched online through the link below:

Clemson Basketball Live Stream

Go Owls!

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