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Clemson basketball vs. Pittsburgh: Score prediction, scouting report for ACC game

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Clemson basketball vs. Pittsburgh: Score prediction, scouting report for ACC game


CLEMSON — After gaining ground ahead of the middle of the ACC standings in Saturday’s win vs. Florida State, Clemson basketball (19-8, 9-7) hosts Pittsburgh (18-9, 9-7) in another critical conference matchup Tuesday at Littlejohn Coliseum.

The Tigers are coming off a 74-63 win in which their leading scorer and shot blocker, PJ Hall, played a season-low 16 minutes. Now they shift their focus to the Panthers, a team that has the second-best road record in the conference (6-3).

“As much as anything, they’re just playing with tremendous confidence,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “That’s a big thing on the road because your team has to truly believe they’re going to win. You’re going into places, you’re just executing your plan and you’re not distracted by the environment.”

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Pittsburgh, which has won six of its past seven games, defeated Virginia Tech 79-64 on Saturday. The Panthers hope to split the regular-season series against the Tigers after losing 79-70 on Dec. 3. The teams are tied with North Carolina State for fifth in the ACC.

Here are three things to know and a score prediction:

RJ Godfrey, Clemson’s reserves come through as team battles attrition

With Hall in early foul trouble Saturday, it opened the door for 6-foot-8 RJ Godfrey to maximize his time off the bench again. He gave an instant boost to Clemson, thanks to his size and athleticism on both ends of the floor. He recorded 12 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals against Florida State. Brownell said it was “maybe his best game at Clemson.”

The sophomore has played at least 20 minutes in his past three games. His additional minutes correlate to Hall and Ian Schieffelin missing practices due to undisclosed injuries. As a result, Godfrey and the reserve unit are receiving extra reps, and their results are showing up on the floor.

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The Tigers’ bench (Godfrey, Josh Beadle, Chauncey Wiggins, Dillon Hunter) scored 23 points Saturday — their fifth straight game scoring in double figures — and added four blocks and four steals.

“There’s not many guys left to work on the post stuff, so our perimeter guys are just getting a lot of work,” Brownell said. “We’re walking through a lot of things. RJ is getting a lot of extra work, and that’s helped him become a better player.”

Tigers continue to respond to Brownell’s call to be better defensively

Monday’s “difficult” film session — when Clemson coaches challenged the players and emphasized to them to be aggressive on defense — has resonated with the Tigers. After holding Georgia Tech to 57 points — a season low in conference play, they held FSU to 63, which is 13 points fewer than its points per game average.

Clemson finished Saturday’s game with nine blocks, tying a season high, and six steals, its most since Jan. 20. It has held opponents to under 70 points in four of its past five games. The outlier was against NC State, allowing the Wolfpack to score 78, which sparked the intense film session.

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“We’ve worked hard on our defense the last month or so,” Brownell said. “It’s gotten better, and one of the things that we’ve got to do is just continue to get our hands on a few balls.”

PROTECTING PLAYERS: ‘We can’t have players getting hurt’: Clemson basketball coach Brad Brownell on court storming

What makes Pittsburgh a tough out?

The Tigers must figure out how to slow down guard Blake Hinson. He is second in the ACC in points per game with 18.9, shoots 42.2% from 3-point range and leads the conference in made 3-pointers (95). The last time Clemson faced an elite scorer was NC State’s DJ Horne, who finished with 27 points, including the go-ahead basket in the final seconds on Feb. 17.

The Panthers are also a dominant rebounding team, averaging 12 offensive boards, which ranks second in the ACC. Defensively, they allow the third-fewest points (67.1) and the lowest 3-point field goal percentage (29.8%) in the conference. Federiko Federiko and Zack Austin are among the best shot blockers in the ACC; both have 38 blocks this season.

Clemson basketball score prediction vs. Pitt

Clemson 73, Pittsburgh 69: This crucial ACC game is going to go down to the wire. In a game like this, look for both teams’ best players to dominate. Hinson will be dynamic, but expect Hall, who had 22 points and 11 rebounds in their first matchup, to lead the Tigers to their third straight victory by having a greater impact on both ends of the floor.

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Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00



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Pittsburg, PA

Icy roads, snow across Pittsburgh area leads to several crashes

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Icy roads, snow across Pittsburgh area leads to several crashes


Icy roads, snow across Pittsburgh area leads to several crashes – CBS Pittsburgh

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Snow across the Pittsburgh area on Saturday morning made a mess of the roads. KDKA-TV’s Ricky Sayer was out tracking some crashes and shares some close calls.

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Steelers fall to Ravens, 34-17

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Steelers fall to Ravens, 34-17


The two miscues by Wilson spoiled an otherwise solid game for the Steelers quarterback. With the Steelers playing without top wide receiver George Pickens, Wilson threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns.

But it was the turnovers and Baltimore’s rushing attack that led to the Steelers (10-5) failing in their attempt to clinch the AFC North title.

Even with the loss, the Steelers remain in first place in the AFC North, tied with Baltimore (10-5) based on tiebreakers. The Steelers can still win the division title if they win their remaining final two games.

The Steelers host the Chiefs on Christmas Day, then finish the regular season at home against Cincinnati, while the Ravens travel to Houston on Christmas Day and host Cleveland.

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Lamar Jackson, who entered this game having thrown five touchdown passes and eight interceptions in his career against the Steelers, leading to a 1-4 record, threw three touchdown passes and one interception.

This game was more about Baltimore’s running game, however, as Derrick Henry gained 162 yards on 24 carries as Baltimore, which entered having lost eight of the past nine games against the Steelers, rushed for over 200 yards in the game.

The Ravens drove across midfield on their opening possession, but Alex Highsmith had a strip sack of Jackson. And though the Ravens recovered the loose ball, they were out of field goal range and forced to punt.

The punt, however, was downed at 3 and the Steelers failed to record a first down, punting the ball back to Baltimore.

Return man Desmond King fumbled, but the Ravens recovered that loose ball, as well, and after Henry carried the Ravens inside the 10, Jackson tossed an 8-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely for a 7-0 lead.

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The Steelers answered quickly, though, as Wilson completed all six of his passes on the ensuing possession to five different receivers, including a 1-yard TD pass to tight end Mycole Pruitt on the opening play of the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7.

The Steelers forced a punt on Baltimore’s ensuing possession, and it went just 14 yards, giving Pittsburgh the ball at its own 44.

Wilson again quickly moved the Steelers down the field. But at the end of a 20-yard scramble, he was hit by safety Ar’Darious Washington at the 4 and fumbled, with Baltimore recovering.

That would prove to be a big swing, as the Ravens drove the length of the field from there in eight plays, scoring on a 14-yard touchdown pass to Rashod Bateman from Jackson on third-and-8 to take a 14-7 lead.

It was only the third touchdown this season allowed by the Steelers following a turnover.

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The Steelers were forced to punt and Baltimore got into field goal range for a 51-yard Justin Tucker kick that increased its lead to 17-7 with just under two minutes remaining in the half.

But Wilson deftly maneuvered the Steelers into scoring range for Chris Boswell at the end of the half, a 51-yard field goal of his own, that cut the lead to 17-10.

The two teams traded punts to open the second half when the Steelers got the ball back at their own 12. Wilson connected with Calvin Austin III off of play-action down the sideline for a 44-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage and then finished off the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Cordarrelle Patterson to tie the game at 17-17 with 5:14 remaining in the third quarter.

The completion to Patterson marked the ninth different Steelers player to make a catch at that point.

But working against a Pittsburgh pass defense that opened the game without safety DeShon Elliott and cornerback Donte Jackson and then lost corner Joey Porter Jr. to a calf injury in the first half, Jackson threw his third touchdown pass of the game, this one to tight end Mark Andrews from 7 yards out to put the Ravens back on top, 24-17.

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It was the first touchdown catch by Andrews – Baltimore’s all-time touchdowns leader – in 11 career games against the Steelers.

The Steelers drove across midfield on their next possession, and on fourth-and-6 from the 45, the Steelers kept the offense on the field. On the opening play of the fourth quarter, Wilson took the shotgun snap and scanned the field. Austin broke free over the middle and he attempted to hit him at the goal line. But safety Kyle Hamilton came in and broke up the pass and the Steelers turned the ball over on downs.

Henry broke free for a 44-yard run to the Pittsburgh 11. But on the next play, Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted Jackson at the Pittsburgh 8 and returned it 24 yards to the 32 to turn the Ravens away.

But after a first-down run, Wilson threw a pass behind Pruitt that was intercepted by Marlon Humphrey and returned 37 yards for a touchdown that increased Baltimore’s lead to 31-17 with just over 13 minutes remaining in the game.

The Ravens added a 23-yard Tucker field goal with 3:10 remaining in the game to push their lead to 34-17.

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KD Quiz: Part 4 (12/21)

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KD Quiz: Part 4 (12/21)


KD Quiz: Part 4 (12/21) – CBS Pittsburgh

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Watch as teams from Somerset Area, Penn Hills, and Plum high schools compete on this edition of KD Quiz!

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