January 27, 2004

No. 14 Georgia Tech Tames Tigers 76-69

Jan 27, 2004

By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer

ATLANTA (AP) – B.J. Elder’s stomach was churning. He sure didn’t show it on the court.

Despite being weakened by the flu, Elder broke out of a January slump with a career-high 36 points, leading No. 14 Georgia Tech past Clemson 76-69 Tuesday night.

Coach Paul Hewitt wondered if Elder would even be able to play after he struggled to get through practice the previous day.

“When I saw the look on his face, I was like, ‘Uh oh, this is not good,”‘ Hewitt said. “He was half on the court and half off. We would start to run a play for him and it would be like, ‘Where is he?”‘

Elder sure showed up against the Tigers, hardly resembling the guy who was shooting less than 31 percent in Atlantic Coast Conference games.

The junior guard had 20 points in the first half and surpassed his previous career best of 25 with nearly 10 minutes remaining. By the end, he had the most points by a Georgia Tech player since James Forrest scored 36 against Maryland in 1994.

Elder connected on 12 of 20 shots from the field, including six 3-pointers. He wound up with nearly half of Georgia Tech’s points; Marvin Lewis, with 11, was the only teammate in double figures.

“He almost put up 40, so he can’t be feeling too bad,” Lewis said. “He needs to be sick every game.”

The Yellow Jackets (16-3, 4-2) bounced back from a weekend loss at North Carolina State, handing Clemson (8-10, 1-6) its fourth straight defeat. They won without starting forward Clarence Moore, expected to be sidelined at least a week with a sore toe.

“He almost put up 40, so he can’t be feeling too bad. He needs to be sick every game.” Guard Marvin Lewis on teammate B.J. Elder

Elder was one of the main reasons Georgia Tech got off to a school-record 12-0 start, but he had struggled since the start of league play. In the last five games, he averaged just 11.8 points and even started one contest on the bench.

Elder’s shooting during that stretch was abysmal – 15-of-49 from the field, 30.6 percent. From outside the 3-point line, he was only 7-of-24 (29 percent).

That all changed against Clemson. He finished one point shy of the school record for points in an ACC game, a 37-point effort by Dennis Scott in 1990. Still, it was the highest-scoring game by an ACC player this season, surpassing 30 by Florida State’s Tim Pickett in an upset of North Carolina.

“I felt pretty good,” said Elder, looking rather ill after the game. “It’s something I knew was going to come sooner or later.”

Georgia Tech would take another game like this on Saturday, when No. 1 Duke visits Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The Yellow Jackets already knocked off a No. 1 team this season, beating Connecticut in the Preseason NIT.

“We’ve had this one marked on our calendar,” Lewis said.

Elder carried the Yellow Jackets in the first half, scoring 18 of his team’s 22 points in one stretch. He finished off that spurt with a three-point play, putting Georgia Tech ahead to stay at 24-21 with 7:35 remaining in the period.

“We allowed them to get rolling,” Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said. “He’s such a good player that once he’s on a roll, he feels very confident.”

Appropriately, Elder finished off the half with a dunk, giving the Yellow Jackets a 40-34 lead.

After Clemson closed to 53-49 with just under 11 minutes left, Elder took over again. He scored 12 straight points for the Yellow Jackets, capped off by a 3-pointer that pushed the margin to 65-51 – Georgia Tech’s largest lead of the night.

“We knew he was going to come around,” Lewis said. “It was just one of those days where a shooter knows if he throws it up there, it’s going in. You’re attacking every shot. There’s guys in your face, but you don’t even see them.”

The Tigers chipped away at their deficit, getting as close as six points. But Georgia Tech sealed the victory with five free throws in the final 1:31.

Shawan Robinson led Clemson with 21 points, and Sharrod Ford added 19 points and 13 rebounds.

The Tigers outrebounded Georgia Tech 44-31 but couldn’t overcome poor shooting (35.5 percent) and 19 turnovers, which led to 22 points for the Yellow Jackets.

And, of course, they couldn’t stop Elder.

“He hit a big shot, and he went to the glass and was a matchup problem for us, and then he posted up,” Purnell said. “He was outstanding and obviously the player of the game.”