ATLANTA, GA -
Clemson earned its first
ACC road win of the 2012-13 season and defeated Georgia Tech for the seventh
straight time in the series on Thursday at McCamish Pavilion, with a
hard-fought 56-53 triumph over the Yellow Jackets. Clemson improved to
13-11 with the win, 5-7 in the ACC. The Jackets fell to 13-10 overall,
3-8 in league play.
The Tigers swept the
regular season series for a third straight year, the first time that has
happened since the 1979-82 era. The seven straight wins are the most by
Clemson over an ACC opponent since an 11-game streak over Virginia from
1959-65.
Clemson's top three
leading scorers all reached double figures against Tech, led by K.J. McDaniels
with 14 points. Devin Booker added 13 points and eight rebounds, while
Milton Jennings tacked on 12 of his own. The Tigers shot 62 percent in
the second half and finished the game 5-for-12 (.417) from three-point range.
The Tigers held Tech to
just 15 first-half points, tying an opponent low in 88 games under Head Coach
Brad Brownell. The Yellow Jackets shot 17.2 percent in the opening half
and 53.8 in the second. Tech won the rebound battle 42-30.
For the first time since
the game at NC State on Jan. 20, Clemson committed single digits in turnovers.
After a combined 36 in their previous two games, the Tigers had just
seven on Thursday.
Clemson raced out to a
10-3 lead at the first timeout behind efficient shooting, as the Tigers made
their first two from behind the arc. Clemson cooled considerably from the
field, scoring just four points over the next eight plus minutes. After
Tech pulled to within four at 14-10, Clemson scored on a pair of drives to make
it 18-10 – first on free throws by McDaniels and then a layup by Rod Hall.
Booker scored a layup inside to give Clemson the 20-15 edge at
intermission, despite shooting just 28 percent.
Tech put together an 8-5
run coming out of halftime to pull within two points at the 17:05 mark.
The Yellow Jackets actually made their first five field goal attempts to
start the half. Tech knotted the game at 30 before McDaniels stepped in front
of an errant pass and coasted for a left-handed jam on the other end with just
over 13 minutes left.
Clemson pushed the lead
to nine at 41-32 on a 7-0 run, punctuated by Booker's fifth basket.
Jennings later connected on his third trifecta to give the Tigers a
12-point advantage at 47-35 at the under-8 timeout. A three from Chris
Bolden cut the lead to 50-43 with four and a half minutes left, and then a
runout layup by Robert Carter, Jr. brought the Jackets within four at 51-47 to
prompt a Clemson timeout at the 3:27 mark.
Clinging to a four-point
lead late, McDaniels first buried a free throw line jumper with 1:56 remaining
and a leaner that banked in following a deflected pass with a minute to go.
The second field goals gave the Tigers a 55-50 lead. With Clemson
ahead 55-53, Jennings made a one-and-one opportunity and followed with a
blocked shot of Mfon Udofia on defense to preserve the victory.
Next up for the Tigers is a meeting with the
nation's No. 3 ranked team in the latest AP poll, the University of Miami.
The game is scheduled for 6:00 PM at Littlejohn Coliseum on Sunday.
