Tigers Face Elon

Clemson looks to improve to 12-1 on the hardwood tonight against Elon.

* Clemson saw its 11-game winning streak to open the season end with a 72-69 loss at Georgia on December 28. Clemson was one of 12 undefeated Division I teams remaining when that game tipped off. It was Clemson's longest winning streak at any time since 1995-96, when Clemson also started 11- 0. Clemson's current 11-1 record is the best start by a Tiger team through 12 games since 1996-97 when Clemson was 16-1 to open the year.

* This is just the second meeting between Clemson and Elon. The Tigers won the only previous meeting by just 10 points, 88-78 on December 15, 2001 at Littlejohn Coliseum.

* Elon Head Coach Ernie Nestor will not be making his first trip to Clemson. Nestor has been to Clemson many times as an assistant under Dave Odom at Wake Forest and South Carolina.

* Both teams use a lot of players. The above starters for Elon are based on their lineup for their most recent game at Buffalo on December 21. Ten different players have been in the starting lineup for Elon over the first 11 games of the season.

* Clemson will be without the services of 6-9 power forward James Mays for the rest of the season. The sophomore was declared academically ineligible for the second semester prior to the Georgia game on December 28. He was Clemson's top rebounder with a 7.6 average through the first 11 games of the season, all Clemson victories.

* This will be Clemson's final regular season nonconference games of the season. A victory over Elon would give Clemson a 12-1 record in non-conference play. That would be the most non-conference wins in a regular season for the Tigers since the 1996-97 season when Clemson was 12-0 in nonconference games.

* From a calendar standpoint, a victory over Elon on Friday would give Clemson 12 wins in November and December combined, a school record for wins in the first two months of the season. Clemson was also 12-1 for November and December combined in 1985-86.

* Clemson won the San Juan Shootout with three victories in three days December 19-21. It marked the first time since 1980 that Clemson won three games in three days. That Clemson team started off 12-1. A win on Friday would give this Clemson team the same 12-1 start.

* K.C. Rivers moved into the starting lineup for Mays against Georgia and led the Tigers in scoring with 14 points, his season high.

* Clemson was ranked 30th in the nation by Sagarin and 52nd by collegerpi.com entering games of December 29.