Georgia Tech's Offense No-Shows in 81-57 Loss to Clemson

Georgia Tech's next game will be Saturday on the road vs Miami

Last month, Georgia Tech traveled to Clemson and won an instant classic. Nait George had one of his best games of the season and the Yellow Jackets took advantage of poor free throw shooting from the Tigers to win a thriller. Now, Georgia Tech was looking to complete its sweep of Clemson and notch another big win, and get a winning streak going. The Yellow Jackets beat Syracuse on Saturday to end a four-game losing streak and Clemson has been playing well enough since the last time these two teams met and are considered a safe bet to make the NCAA Tournament. 

Georgia Tech stuck with the same starting lineup as they have been using. Nait George, Miles Kelly, Kowacie Reeves, Tafara Gapare, and Baye Ndongo were the first five on the floor for the Yellow Jackets. 

Both teams opened up scoring well, but it was Clemson who would sustain it and open up a big lead with a run to start the game. 

It was 9-9 in the first few minutes, but that turned into a 23-9 lead for the Tigers and overall a 20-3 run. Georgia Tech could not get a stop on the defensive end of the court. Clemson hit five of their first six three-pointers and were shooting 88% to start the game. It looked like it was going to possibly get away from GT, but they found a way to stick around. 

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The problem was that anytime they got close to the Tigers, Clemson would keep them at arm's length. It looked like Clemson was going to lead by 17 going into the half, but Georgia Tech had one of its best sequences of the half right as it was ending. Kyle Sturdivant hit a three to cut it to 14 and then Ndongo blocked a shot on the other, got the ball out to Gapare, and he beat the buzzer. Clemson led 43-31 going into the half, but it could have been worse. 

Georgia Tech shot 36% from the field in the first half and 38% from three. 

Clemson shot 50% from the field and from three. 

The second half began with Georgia Tech continuing to score the ball. 

At the 12:24 mark, Clemson had opened up a 54-37 lead and Georgia Tech had only six points in the first 7 1/2 minutes. 

Georgia Tech's Miles Kelly was able to pull off a significant accomplishment, however. He surpassed 1,000 points in his career as a Yellow Jacket. 

𝟏𝐊 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛

Give that man @Kelly5Miles his flowers 🫡#StingEm 🐝 pic.twitter.com/XtcomGUhgp

— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) February 22, 2024

Clemson would outscore Georgia Tech 38-26 in the second half. The Yellow Jackets offense shot 24% from the field and 12.5% from three. It was a struggle to find anything consistent for them and Clemson had no trouble scoring. 

For the game, Georgia Tech shot 30% from the field and 29% from three. 

Clemson shot 53% from the field and 48% from three. Sturdivant (14) and Gapare (10) were the only scorers in double-figures. 

Georgia Tech will be back on the court this Saturday when they travel to Miami. Their last home game will be next Saturday against Florida State. Miami was a preseason favorite in the conference, but they have not been playing well and find themselves closer to Georgia Tech in the standings than near the top. 

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