Colorado vs. Clemson Preview, Prediction

The Buffaloes and Tigers play at 9:30 p.m. tonight

The biggest question is, Will Clemson be able to score on Colorado?

So far, nobody has been able to do much of that. So far, everybody Colorado has faced has turned it over at least 19 times, and nobody has managed to shoot 40 percent against CU. 

That is, uh, not good news for Clemson, which is shooting 45 percent from the floor and 35 percent from the 3-point line so far this year. 

On the other hand, Colorado, which rose to No. 21 in the AP rankings on Monday, is only shooting 41 percent from the floor.

So this could be another ugly one. 

Clemson is balanced, with four players averaging double figures. The Tigers' leading scorer is Tevin Mack, who is playing for his third school after transferring from Texas to Alabama to Clemson. He's averaging 16.2 points and shooting 44 percent from the 3-point line. 

Mack is the most dangerous Clemson shooter by far. Only two other rotations players are shooting better than 30 percent from the arc, though the Buffaloes will want to keep an eye on Al-Amir Dawes, who is 11-for-29. 

Clemson has played a cupcake schedule so far. The Tigers are 5-1, but that one loss was to Virginia Tech in the first game of the year. After a run of easy wins over badly overmatched foes, the Tigers played TCU and escaped with a two-point win. 

Prediction:

Tevin Mack is going to get his averages, but it will be a mostly futile effort. Colorado is going to force Clemson into a sub-40-percent shooting night and will dominate the glass. 

This will probably be a close game for most of the first half and maybe into the second, but the Buffaloes defense will eventually wear out Clemson and give Colorado a 65-57 win.