THE FLATS – Miles Kelly reached 1,000 career points, the 48th Georgia Tech player to do so, but Clemson shot 53.4 percent from the floor with 14 three-point field goals and cruised to an 81-57 victory over the Yellow Jackets Wednesday night at McCamish Pavilion.
Tech (11-16, 4-12 ACC) was unable to follow its Saturday victory over Syracuse with another win, while Clemson (18-8, 8-7 ACC) avenged a January loss to the Yellow Jackets and evened the season series.
The Jackets hit their first three three-point field goal tries out of the game, Kelly with two and Naithan George with one, as Tech and Clemson were tied at 9 apiece barely two minutes in. But the Tigers stayed hot and reeled off 14 straight points to go ahead 23-9 and added an 8-0 run later in the first half to extend their lead to 16 and never looked back. Tech cut the margin to 12 at the halftime break, but were never able to get any closer.
Tech made just 30 percent of its shots from the floor and went 6-of-21 from three-point range.
Kyle Sturdivant led the Jackets with 14 points in the game, and Tafara Gapare added 10 as Tech’s only other double-figure scorer. Ian Schieffelin led four Tigers in double figures with 19 points.
Tech travels to Miami for its next game Saturday. Tip is at 4 p.m. at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla., and the game will be televised live on ACC Network.
Kyle Sturdivant led the Yellow Jackets with 14 points. (photo by Danny Karnik)
Post-Game Notes
TEAM NOTES
- Tech out-rebounded its second straight opponent, edging Clemson, 34-31, after building a 49-28 advantage over Syracuse Saturday. The Tigers had outrebounded the Jackets, 45-33, in their first meeting.
- Clemson also reversed another trend from the teams’ first meeting, hitting 14 three-point field goals to Tech’s six. The Jackets had connected on 15 threes to the Tigers’ three in the first meeting.
- Tech has made 74.3 percent of its free throws (143-of-188) in its last seven games, hitting 19-of-21 against Clemson (90.5 pct.), its highest percentage this season.
PLAYER NOTES
- Miles Kelly became the 48th Georgia Tech player to reach 1,000 for his career after tallying eight against Clemson. He made his first two shots of the game, both three-pointers, then didn’t score again until he made two free throws at the 13:24 mark of the second half to get to the milestone.
- Kelly failed to score double digits for just the fifth time this season.
- Kelly’s 170 career three-point field goals rank 13th in Tech program history. He needs six to break into the top 10.
- Tafara Gapare notched his second straight game with double-digit points and his third of the season, scoring 10 points with seven rebounds against Clemson
- Kyle Sturdivant has nine points to go to reach 900 after scoring a team-high 14 against Clemson.
- Sturdivant is 21-for-23 from the free throw line over Tech’s last 11 games. He leads the Jackets at 87.3 percent from the line this season, 88.5 percent (31-of-35) in ACC play.
Miles Kelly is the 48th Tech player to reach 1,000 career points. (photo by Danny Karnik)
