CLEMSON, S.C. — Georgia Tech’s long march to basketball respectability took a step Saturday. It wasn’t easy to tell in which direction.
The Yellow Jackets followed a miserable first half with a desperate rally, only to fall short against Clemson 64-62 in a game interrupted by a 23-minute power outage. At least for the final 20 minutes, they gave a far better account of themselves than they did in their 70-38 loss to Virginia on Thursday.
“I feel a lot better than I did the other night because at least we competed, at least we played hard and at least we showed some pride in what we’re trying to get done,” coach Brian Gregory said after the game.
The Jackets traveled home with their third consecutive loss and seventh in eight games. Tech also lost its seventh game in a row at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Jackets are 8-11 overall and 1-4 in the ACC.
The loss to Clemson (10-9, 2-3) defies easy summary. The Jackets turned the ball over 17 times in an unofficial 33 first-half possessions, including five traveling calls. They made 11-of-21 free-throw attempts and gave Clemson guard Andre Young room to score 15 consecutive points, 12 of them on 3-pointers, in the first half.
Young’s surge fortified a 21-7 Clemson run in the final 5:06 of the first half that enabled the Tigers to go into halftime ahead 34-19, the third consecutive first half in which Tech has not been able to crack the 20-point barrier.
“I was not proud of my team at that particular point,” Gregory said.
However, the Jackets also out-rebounded the Tigers 37-26 and pushed Clemson to the hilt in the final minutes. After Young made his seventh 3-pointer, a what-the-heck launch over Tech center Daniel Miller with the shot clock expiring, the Tigers led 56-40 with 3:34 remaining.
After a free throw by guard Mfon Udofia, guard Glen Rice Jr. scored Tech’s next 15 points to rally the Jackets to within 61-56 with 35.4 seconds remaining. He did so on a gimpy ankle and in the face of heavy defensive coverage, making three 3-pointers along the way.
“A lot of them, I was [just] hoping [they would go in],” said Rice, who finished with 19 points.
It was a stunning rampage by Rice, who had scored a combined 13 points in Tech’s previous two games.
“With his length, he’s able to kind of get around anybody he wants,” said Clemson guard Tanner Smith, who is from Alpharetta.
After a Young free throw with 33.5 seconds left, guard Jason Morris drained a 3-pointer from the corner to draw to within 62-59 with 23.5 seconds remaining. Two free throws by Young — the Albany product led with a career-high 29 points — rendered Udofia’s final 3-pointer moot.
“They were hitting everything,” Young said. “It was just amazing.”
After playing Saturday on one day’s rest, Tech will face Miami on Tuesday night at Philips Arena.
A team short on depth and star power and that was picked to finish 10th in the ACC has, not surprisingly, lost four of its first five in ACC play. However, the Jackets also have been within four or points or fewer with less than three minutes to play in three of those four losses and might have pulled off an inconceivable road upset Saturday had they had another 20 seconds, shot better than 52.4 percent from the free-throw line or not burned 22 possessions with turnovers.
“I don’t know how to explain [the difference in the second half],” said forward Julian Royal, who scored nine off the bench. “I could see a difference in the effort from the first half to the second half. You’ve got to play like that all the time.”
About the Author
