Clemson Basketball Hits Proving Ground Saturday

Brad Brownell’s Clemson Tigers will face their best opponent of the season when they hit the road for a battle with Ed Cooley’s Georgetown Hoyas at Capital One Arena this Saturday.

Georgetown sports an identical 3-0 record as Clemson, and has been one of the feel-good stories of the early 2025 college basketball season. Under Cooley’s identity, the Hoyas have enjoyed their best start since the 2018-19 campaign. A tough, rugged roster has revived a program that appeared lifeless in recent years.

“It’s a major step up in class,” Brownell said of the matchup with Georgetown. Ed [Cooley] does an unbelievable job. He’s a terrific coach. They beat Kentucky, at Kentucky, in an exhibition. They just went to Maryland and won. That doesn’t happen very often. He’s got a really good team. Some good guards, a big, physical, tough team. He coaches the fire out of them. We’ll have our hands full. It’ll be a great challenge on the road. It’s what we need to do after playing three games at home. We need to go on the road against a high-major opponent, see how we do, and learn and grow from it.”

Guards KJ Lewis and Malik Mack lead Georgetown’s offense, averaging (#) and (#) points, respectively through three games. As is found up and down the Hoyas’ roster, both players are transfers from other Division I programs. Lewis averaged 8.5 points and 2.4 assists per game over the past two seasons at Arizona. Mack starred at Harvard, leading the Crimson in scoring with 17.2 points per game in 2023-24 before heading to the nation’s capital.

Georgetown earned a 13-point win over Binghamton on Wednesday night, but Cooley was far from content with his team’s performance.

“We’ve got to flush this one behind us,” he said after the 83-70 final. “I did not do a very good job today, at all.… I just think our players didn’t play with the level of discipline and championship mindset that it’s going to take in order for us to continue to grow. I will take all the blame for this.”

On the defensive end, 7-foot-1 center Vince Iwuchukwu reminds fans of Georgetown’s long history of dominance inside the paint. A senior transfer who’s spent time at USC and St. John’s, he’s emerged as a shot blocker to be feared. Through three games, he’s already racked up eight blocks, anchoring a Hoyas defense that hasn’t allowed an opponent to score more than 70 points in a game.

Clemson has had its own crisp start to the season. Like Georgetown, the Tigers’ retooled roster features six transfers. The new-look roster has featured a balanced scoring effort during non-conference play. All three games have seen a different player lead Clemson in scoring, yet the team has cruised to victory in each contest.

Redshirt freshman guard Ace Buckner has averaged a team-high 13.7 points per game thus far, with four others also in double figures.

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