*Balanced Clemson to clash with Villanova*
No. 12 Villanova (20-12) at No. 5 Clemson (24-9) 9:50 pm EDT
TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) - The most memorable moments in Clemson's season have been a pair of bitter losses.
The fifth-seeded Tigers can start to erase those memories when they open NCAA Tournament play with a first-round matchup against Villanova on Friday in the Midwest Regional.
Despite a last-second overtime loss and double-overtime defeat to North Carolina in the regular season, Clemson (24-9) did not unravel like it did last season, when it failed to make the NCAAs despite a 17-0 start.
The Tigers snapped a 22-game losing streak to Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals before falling a third time to UNC, 86-81, in the league championship game.
Five players average in double figures for Clemson, led by guard K.C. Rivers at 14.7 points per game. He is joined in a potent backcourt by Cliff Hammonds and Terrence Oglesby.
The forward tandem of James Mays and Trevor Booker augment the trio of guards with a strong inside game. Mays is the focal point of the team's vaunted press.
Villanova (20-12) showed its youth, playing .500 ball after a 10-1 start. The Wildcats were wildly inconsistent, losing five straight games at one point yet they beat Connecticut and were a controversial call away from taking Georgetown into overtime.
Guard Scottie Reynolds leads the team in scoring at 15.6 points per game, but he struggled late in the season, scoring 14 points or fewer in seven of his last nine games, including four times in single digits.
