Tech, Clinch face another tough assignment against Deacons

The list of the best players that Georgia Tech guard Lewis Clinch has defended includes Duke’s J.J. Redick, Indiana’s Eric Gordon and Michigan State’s Shannon Brown.

Redick and Gordon became NBA lottery picks. Brown was also a first-round choice.

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AP

Tech senior Lewis Clinch is averaging 12.8 points per game and 2.8 assists per game.

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Clinch will draw another tough assignment on Saturday when tries to defend Wake Forest’s Jeff Teague. Clinch says Teague is just as good any one he’s faced.

“He’s a great basketball player, good scorer,” Clinch said. “He’s probably the best player in the league.”

The Jackets’ seventh attempt for their first win in ACC play may be their most challenging. Tech has not faced the likes of Teague, the sophomore guard who has lit up the conference.

“If you guard him with one guy, just let him go, he can go get 50 (points),” Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. “I’m not exaggerating.”

Teague was an all-ACC freshman a year ago but did not make the preseason all-conference team this season. But he dropped 34 points in an upset of North Carolina and is second in the league in scoring at 20.9 points per game. Of players he has seen, Hewitt gives Teague a slight edge over Duke’s Kyle Singler for league MVP.

“The two most complete guys,” he said. Teague is an “unbelievable scorer in that he shoots a high percentage from [inside and outside the three-point arc] and the foul line. He really leaves you no choice.”

The Deacons are 17-1 overall and 4-1 in the ACC. They were No. 1 in both polls for a week before losing to Virginia Tech and are now No. 6 in the AP poll. Teague is backed up by two more problems for Tech, forwards James Johnson and Al-Farouq Aminu. The latter is the younger brother of Tech senior forward Alade Aminu and former high school teammate of forward Gani Lawal at Norcross High. (Saturday’s game will be just the second time in ACC history that brothers have played each other in a league game.)

“When they play through those three guys, they’re really tough,” Hewitt said. “So you’ve got to pick your poison a little bit.”

Clinch will take a turn defending Teague, as likely will guards Moe Miller and Iman Shumpert. What Tech has to do, Hewitt said, is bring help to defend Teague before he penetrates because of his strength at getting to the basket.

“So when you come to give help, the help’s got to be early and you’ve got to be strong with it,” Hewitt said.

Tech, which has been off since losing to Clemson last Sunday, is 0-6 in the ACC and 9-10 overall. The Jackets are the only ACC team that has yet to win a conference game.

The challenge of defending Teague is secondary to getting into a win.

“That’s what we’re craving for,” Clinch said. “We just need a win just to get our confidence back. We’ve been close, but what are moral victories?”