By Andy Demetra | Voice of the Yellow Jackets
If Georgia Tech wants to finish the season on a flourish, they’ve come to the right place.
Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum, once an arena where the Yellow Jackets dropped 14 straight games from 2006-19, has instead become a site of sweat, stress, suspense – and multi-overtime upsets. In consecutive trips to Littlejohn, Tech has beaten Clemson in double overtime and triple overtime, rallying from deficits in the final minute of regulation in each game. The Tigers reached the NCAA Tournament in both seasons.
Clemson (21-9, 11-6 ACC) is ticketed for another trip to the Big Dance in 2026, despite dropping five of their last six games. They also bring in a NET ranking of 35, one spot below NC State, the Yellow Jackets’ signature road win of the year.
Georgia Tech knows it can’t extend its season beyond Saturday. As recent history has shown, though, they’ve had no trouble extending games at Clemson to earn a hard-fought win.
Enjoy the top notes my chart as the Yellow Jackets gear up for their 150th all-time meeting against the Tigers (12:00 p.m. ET, Georgia Tech Sports Network):
Baye Ndongo scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in Tech’s triple overtime win at Littlejohn last year, helping the Yellow Jackets extend an impressive quirk in their record books.
All time, Georgia Tech has played in four triple-overtime games.
The Jackets have won all four.
Their opponent was ranked, and Georgia Tech was unranked, in three of them.
Georgia Tech – Triple overtime games
Date Opponent Score
2-14-59 #14 Oklahoma City W 71-65
1-23-84 Virginia W 72-71
12-19-90 #17 Georgia W 112-105
2-4-25 #21 Clemson W 89-86
With one last strong effort on the glass, Ndongo can become the first player to lead Tech in rebounds in three straight seasons since Jeremis Smith from 2006-08.
Like Cal, Clemson sent waves of double teams on Ndongo when they met in January in McCamish. The tactic seemed to constrain the junior: Ndongo only finished with three field goal attempts, the second fewest he’s had in a game this season.
The Tigers are physical with cutters, dig hard from the ball side, and don’t get broken down easily – opponents take an average of 18.9 seconds per offensive possession according to KenPom, a figure that ranks 360th nationally. That may tax a Georgia Tech team that still plays at the fastest tempo in the ACC.
Can the Jackets pass unselfishly? Can someone other than Kowacie Reeves Jr. re-establish himself beyond the arc? Though Reeves sank 5-of-9 threes against Cal (and made 5-of-7 threes at Littlejohn two years ago), the rest of his teammates only went 1-for-13 against the Bears. And can the Jackets finish with conviction around the rim after shooting a season-low 33% from two-point range against the Tigers in January? In ACC play, only Virginia allows a lower two-point field goal percentage defense than Clemson.
Akai Fleming sank all seven of his free throw attempts against Cal, boosting his season average to 81%. Believe it or not, he’s in line to become the first freshman to lead Tech in free throw percentage in a season since…
Marvin Lewis in 2000-01.
It may have rung hollow in defeat, but Georgia Tech did a good job clamping down on Clemson center Carter Welling at McCamish, holding the Tigers’ second leading scorer (10.3 ppg) to a season-low 2 points.
His performance was cancelled out, though, by 6-10 Jake Wahlin (13 points) and 6-3 point guard Dillon Hunter (12 points), both of whom recorded ACC season highs against the Jackets. Hunter has struggled of late, averaging just 2.2 points over his last five games, but the Atlanta native will likely play with the requisite Senior Day bump. So, too, will 6-7, 240-pound R.J. Godfrey (11.9 ppg), who scored a career-high 22 points in a Monday loss to North Carolina. He’s an athletic, downhill wing who plays well off teammates and works well in tight spaces.
Clemson plays an inside-out style that’s based on sound passing and patiently waiting for mismatches. If Georgia Tech endures a few empty possessions on offense, they can’t let it affect their concentration or willpower on defense. Can they also take a page out of Cal’s playbook and be opportunistic running after defensive rebounds and 50-50 balls? Despite their size, the Tigers rank a somewhat surprising 17th in the ACC in offensive rebounding percentage.
Proof that the transfer portal can turn geography on its head:
Clemson features a pair of players on its roster from the state of Utah (Carter Welling and Jake Wahlin).
That’s as many Utah natives as BYU and the University of Utah have combined.
Now that we’re prepared, we hope you are as well. Join us for pregame coverage starting with the “Ramblin’ Wreck Tip-off Show” at 11:30 a.m. ET on the Georgia Tech Sports Network. See you at Clemson.
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