Clemson Men’s Basketball lost to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on January 16th in Littlejohn Coliseum in double overtime. It was one of those losses that typically haunt the Tigers when the NCAA Tournament field is announced.
This season Clemson has several solid wins on their resume, but avenging an earlier loss on the opponent's home floor is always positive for both the resume and the ego.
Last night Brad Brownell and his squad did exactly that by marching into McCamish Pavilion and annihilating the Rambling Wreck 81-57. The Tigers constructed an early lead and never looked back.
Ian Schieffelin had a night with 19 points and 3 rebounds. Chase Hunter followed closely with 18 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds. Joe Girard had 14 points and PJ Hall had 11.
Only Kyle Sturdivant (14 points) and Tafara Gapare (10 points) reached double digits for the Yellow Jackets. The loss drops Tech to 11-16 overall and 4-12 in the ACC.
This win improved Clemson to 18-8 overall and 8-7 in the ACC. They are presently tied for fifth place in the conference with Pittsburgh, NC State, and Florida State. They improved to No. 26 in the KenPom rankings (The NET rankings had not been updated at the time of this writing).
The Tigers return to action on Saturday when they host the Florida State Seminoles at Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson has five regular season contests remaining before the ACC Tournament, which will be held in Washington, DC this year.
Clemson only plays one of the four teams that lead them in the ACC (Wake Forest) for the duration of the season, so they will need to win consistently and get a little bit of luck to grab a double-bye in the tournament.