Clemson men’s basketball (14-4, 6-1 ACC) made a successful trip to Atlanta on Tuesday night, defeating the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8-10, 2-5 ACC) by a 70-59 score at McCamish Pavilion.
Clemson’s balanced offense showcased four players scoring in double figures: Ian Schieffelin with 16, Viktor Lakhin with 10, and Chase Hunter with 14.
The fourth player of that group, and the leader of the offense for the night, was senior guard Jaeden Zackery. His 21 points and 6 rebounds, including three makes from deep, ignited a CU offense that missed some good looks early in the first.
Following what head coach Brad Brownell called one of their best performances of the season, the Tigers were in what some might call a ‘trap game’ spot. A slow offensive start saw the team produce just eight points over the opening 5:40 of play.
The good news? Georgia Tech was held scoreless until the 12:42 mark of the first half – over seven minutes of scoreless basketball.
“[Tonight was] just kind of a grinder-type win,” Brownell said. “Our defense was really good tonight. Our communication was really good. We didn’t shoot it as well, [and] got off to a little slow start. Midway through the half, we started to play a little bit better and were able to finish the game. Good win for us. Road wins are hard in [the ACC].”
The Tigers took an 11-point lead into halftime following a 13-5 run. Clemson hit its last five shots from the field, punctuated by a Viktor Lakhin fadeaway from the free throw line in the final seconds to make it 36-25.
Georgia Tech fought back with a 5-point spurt from Naithan George, but it wouldn’t last. The Yellow Jackets cut the lead down to eight with 16:23 left, but were outscored 14-6 over the next 6:48 of game time.
Without their best player and leading scorer, guard Lance Terry, GT’s offense stagnated, and was swarmed by Clemson’s tenacious defense. Brownell kept things simple with the gameplan, focusing on keeping the Jackets out of the paint and finishing possessions with defensive rebounds.
“It was kind of one of those games where you just had to keep playing,” Brownell said after the win. “There were no major adjustments [to our gameplan during the game].”
Brad Brownell
Though the offense wasn’t where Brownell and his staff would like it to be, Tuesday night’s win proved that the Tigers can win in multiple ways. The 70 points scored is the team’s fewest in a win since the 70-66 upset of then-No. 4 Kentucky back on December 3rd. 59 points allowed marks a second straight game holding the opponent under 60.
Clemson wraps up another ACC road trip with a Saturday midday matchup against the Pitt Panthers. Both teams are currently inside ESPN insider Joe Lunardi’s bracket, with Clemson as a No. 9 seed and Pitt as a No. 8 seed. The Tigers quieted the Petersen Events Center crowd last season with a 79-70 win, and will aim to do the same on Saturday.
