Still on the outside looking in on the AP Top 25, Clemson brings its six-game winning streak into a Tuesday matchup with visiting Georgia Tech.
The Tigers (18-4, 10-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) received 182 votes in the Monday poll, placing them as the first team out of the rankings, despite four consecutive road wins in conference play. A seventh ACC victory in a row on Tuesday would match a program record established in 1966-67 and tied in 2022-23.
“It’s great, but there’s still nine games left,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “It doesn’t mean a whole lot right now other than we have important games ahead. Because you’ve played well, the games ahead give you a chance to do something special. We’ve got to get focused for Georgia Tech on Tuesday night.”
Last time out, Clemson pulled away for a 68-58 road win over North Carolina State on Saturday thanks to Chase Hunter’s 20 points. The sixth-year senior leads the team with an average of 17.2 points per game and leads the conference with a 44.8 percent 3-point shooting clip.
“His job is to score the basketball for us and make good decisions,” Brownell said of Hunter. “His versatility with Jaeden (Zackery) makes those two guys one of the better backcourts in our league.”
Zackery adds 10.7 points and 3.3 assists per game. Ian Schieffelin chips in 12.4 points and a team-high 9.5 rebounds per contest.
Georgia Tech (10-12, 4-7), which fell at home to Clemson 70-59 on Jan. 14, picked up its biggest win of the year on Saturday, topping then-No. 21 Louisville 77-70.
In a continuation of an injury-riddled campaign, the Yellow Jackets had just a six-man rotation on Saturday, but they battled back from a 13-point deficit to beat a ranked foe for the first time in five tries this season.
“I think we all want to have a full deck of players, but I feel like we’ve got enough to win,” Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire said. “I just think we’ve got to learn how to win. We’ve got to have some carryover now into next week. You can’t be happy with one. You’ve got to build on it.”
It is unlikely Luke O’Brien, Kowacie Reeves and Jaeden Mustaf will be ready to return for Georgia Tech this week.
“Hopefully we can get one of those (players) back here in the next couple weeks,” Stoudamire said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Lance Terry, who paces the Yellow Jackets with 15.8 points per game, led the way Saturday with 23. Javian McCollum averages 12.7 ppg, while Baye Ndongo adds 11.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
Georgia Tech won in double overtime at Clemson last season behind 20 points from Naithan George.
