“I have a couple friends at other Big Ten schools and I told them that this is about the only time of year that we can all come together as one and try to pull out the ‘W’ for the Big Ten,” senior guard Courtney Davidson said.

MSU head coach Suzy Merchant added that the matchup between the two conferences helps in recruiting.

“I think it’s really big in the recruiting wars because a lot of time the Big Ten gets deemed as slow and not very athletic where as the ACC is deemed more up and down,” Merchant said.

“Now that we have this opportunity it’s our responsibility to step up and show that we can play with anyone throughout the country.”

Coming off the most recent of three consecutive road wins, a nail-biter against Delaware State, the Spartans (5-1) are looking to gain consistency and capitalize on rebounds.

“Hopefully the Delaware State game knocked us down a notch enough to (make us) show up and play,” Merchant said. “We had all the excuses in the book, we were sick, we were tired, but at the end of the day no one cares, all that matters is that you win.

“We probably deserved to lose but we found a way to win and I think that’s a good sign.”

Going into tonight’s game, Clemson (4-4) forces an average of 23 turnovers per game. Turnovers have been a sticking point for the Spartans. Against Delaware State, MSU turned the ball over a staggering 25 times.

“(Turnovers) are definitely a concern. We want to limit our turnovers to 14 or less a game,” Merchant said.

“We’re real up and down with our turnovers and a lot of that has to do with us not catching it, ripping it and holding it strong and making good decisions with the ball.”

During recent practices, Merchant has been stressing both offensive and defensive rebounds.

Plastic bubbles were placed over the hoops so the ball does not go in the basket and the team is forced to fight for the rebound every time. Merchant said that until the rebounds become second nature, the bubbles get much use.

The Tigers have 115 offensive rebounds coming into tonight’s game compared to the Spartans’ 39.

“(Clemson) really pressures the ball and are incredible offensive rebounders, so we are going to walk into the fire for us in terms of can we fix our problems with rebounding,” Merchant said.

“The second piece is that they are very good at getting to the rim. We’re going to have our hands full.”

The Tigers are riding a two-game winning streak heading into tonight’s matchup and are looking to bring the Spartans their first home loss of the season.

The tip off will be 8 p.m. tonight at Breslin Center.