Compared against recent showings, Georgia Tech looked kind of sick or wounded Wednesday night, slogging through a 74-62 loss at Clemson where the Yellow Jackets lacked the verve that pushed them past No. 6 Florida State and No. 12 Notre Dame last week.
Turns out, they were ailing.
Starting point guard Josh Heath was a game-time decision after battling flu symptons, starting forward Quinton Stephens saw his first action since Saturday’s game against the Fighting Irish and primary sub Tadric Jackson also missed practice Monday and Tuesday for the same reason. Both have ankle sprains.
Head coach Josh Pastner wasn’t leaning on any of that, though, after Tech fell to 13-9, and 5-5 in the ACC. He was cranky because the Tigers (13-8, 3-6) beat his team in a variety of ways, chiefly with an activity surplus. Last in the league in rebounding differential at -7.1 per game, the Tigers edged the Jackets 36-34 on the glass.
That was a barometer.
“When we don’t play with energy, effort and a lack of execution, which we did for 32 minutes, we’re just not real good,” the coach said.
Here are five observations:
# Junior center Ben Lammers put up a career-high 25 points, and grabbed nine rebounds, but Tech was lousy on offense for 30-plus minutes. Jackson added 12 points off the bench, and leading scorer Josh Okogie scored 12, 10 in the second half. Beyond Lammers and Jackson, the Jackets made 7-of-27 shots.
“We are not a team that can rely on one individual; we are not built that way,” Pastner said. “Quinton and Josh Okogie and Josh Heath are a combined 7-for-23, it’s going to be hard for us … Seventeen turnovers, that’s a recipe for disaster.”
# Clemson had the juice the Jackets lacked, and stole Tech’s defense. The Tigers didn’t play between Jan. 22 and Jan. 28, but they were not fresher than the Jackets. They were more locked in.
Both teams played Saturday, and in fact Clemson practiced twice a day three times in that down time. The Tigers focused on defense, and it’s showing. In back-to-back games, they’ve allowed season ACC lows in back-to-back games, including a 67-60 win at Pitt Saturday.
That 61-point average is a whole lot better than the 79.7-point average they surrendered in their first seven conference games.
“We’re a little better defensively, certainly. Hopefully, we’re moving to a better place,” said Clemson coach Brad Brownell. “There’s going to be a lot of teams in this league have a bad couple of weeks.”
# Pastner went much deeper into his bench than in the Jackets’ 62-60 win Saturday over Notre Dame, only partly because four of Tech’s five starters in that game played huge minutes, with Lammers going all 40.
The Jackets’ injury report may have had more to do with nine players getting meaningful minutes, and 10 playing overall.
“We didn’t practice well Monday. Quinton didn’t practice. Josh Heath, I didn’t know if he was going to play today,” Pastner said. “I’m thankful for Clemson’s medical department; they got him an IV, which made him feel a little better. Tadric hasn’t practiced the last two days because of an ankle. We’re not a team that cannot practice …
“I usually play six or seven, and that’s it. But based on some things, I wanted to try to keep them fresh as much as I could.”
# The Jackets made a run. Trailing by 21 with just over nine minutes left, Tech cut the deficit to 65-58 on Stephens’ layup off of an Okogie steal with 2:13 left in the game, but he missed a free throw after that and turned the ball over moments later. Clemson’s last nine points came from the free throw line.
The senior seemed willing to shoulder burden after shooting 3-of-11 for 11 points with six rebounds and four turnovers. Okogie had four turnovers as well.
“I think the energy started with us in practice Monday,” Stephens said. “I think a lot of that probably starts with me, just the way I went about talking to guys during practice, saying, ‘you’re not playing as hard as you should.’ We didn’t get here just from being better than other people. We pushed each other. We’ve got to stay focused and get back to playing hard.”
# Lammers stood out, again.
“A guy like Ben Lammers, just a phenomenal player,” Brownell said. “I said it after the game in Atlanta, that the guy’s a pro. He has an unbelievable soft shot. He was making some tough shots, guarded shots …
“They’re mixing their defenses and playing zone, but they play a lot of man-to-man, now, and Ben Lammers on the ball screen is about as good as anybody in our league.”
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