Feb. 20, 2014
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THE FLATS – Georgia Tech concludes a stretch of four straight home games with a 12 noon tip Saturday at McCamish Pavilion against defense-minded Clemson.
The ACC’s Regional Sports Network will air television coverage of the game, which can be seen throughout the Southeast on Fox Sports South. Radio coverage of the game will be provided by the Georgia Tech IMG Sports Network and can be heard in Atlanta on All News 106.7 FM. The Tech radio broadcast can be heard nationally on satellite radio (Sirius ch. 108, XM ch. 191).
Tech (13-13, 4-9 ACC), 2-5 at home in conference play this season, fell to 1-2 in the current homestand Tuesday night when it dropped a 68-51 decision to 5th-ranked Duke. Tech is tied with Wake Forest for 11th place in the ACC standings.
In its third season under head coach Brian Gregory, Tech played its first 10 ACC games with no more than nine scholarship players, sometimes with as few as seven. Senior guard and leading scorer Trae Golden (groin) has played just 43 minutes in Tech’s last four games, but sophomore forward Robert Carter, Jr., has returned from a knee injury to play a total of 66 minutes in Tech’s last three games after missing the first 10 conference games.
Saturday is the second meeting of the season between Tech and Clemson, with the Tigers having escaped with a 45-41 decision against the Carter/Golden-less Jackets at Littlejohn Coliseum on Feb. 4.
Clemson (16-9, 7-6 ACC) has ranked among the top two teams in the nation in scoring defense and field goal defense (with Virginia) all season. The Tigers had lost three straight games since their Feb. 4 win over Tech, but snapped that skid with a 73-56 rout of NC State in their last game on Tuesday night.
Tech goes back on the road for the last time in the regular season after Saturday’s game, visiting Notre Dame, Florida State and Syracuse over a seven-day period.
Fast Break Points
• Nooners – This is the last of four 12 noon Saturday starts for Georgia Tech this season.
• Georgia Tech is looking for its first win over Clemson since Jan. 19, 2010 (eight straight losses) and its first win over a Brad Brownell-coached Tiger team (0-7).
• Tech has not scored more than 62 points in any game against Clemson with Brad Brownell as head coach. The Yellow Jackets have averaged 53 points in those seven games. Conversely, Tech has held the Tigers to an average of 58.1 points over the last six meetings.
• In the teams’ last four meetings, the average score has been 55-48 in favor of the Tigers. ACC Network announcer Tim Brando calls them “root canal” games.
• Georgia Tech is 9-6 at McCamish Pavilion this season, but only 2-5 against the ACC. Tech’s home ACC wins are against Notre Dame (Jan. 11) and Boston College (Feb. 13). Clemson is 3-4 in ACC road games.
• Georgia Tech’s last four ACC road trips have produced two wins, an overtime loss and a four-point loss. Tech has won five of its last 11 ACC road games, winning at Virginia Tech, Wake Forest (twice), Miami and Boston College in that stretch. The Yellow Jackets won only three times in 36 ACC road games before that dating back to the 2008-09 season.
• Trae Golden (groin) has played just 43 minutes in Tech’s last five games, including DNP’s against Clemson and Boston College. He has scored just five points in that stretch and one 1-for-10 from the floor.
• After missing the first 10 ACC games because of a knee injury, Robert Carter, Jr., has played progressively more and better in his three games back – Virginia (16 minutes, 5 pts, 2-7 FG, 2 reb), Boston College (24 minutes, 10 pts, 5-9 FG, 5 reb) and Duke (26 minutes, 13 pts, 5-9 FG, 8 reb).
• Tech was outrebounded in five of the 10 games that Robert Carter, Jr., missed, but has outrebounded its last two opponents by a combined 22.
• Tech has played its ACC games this season with as few as seven scholarship players. Carter, Jr., Morris, and guards Travis Jorgenson and Solomon Poole had combined for 22 starts before this season and were all projected as major contributors this season when practice began. They have missed a total of 63 games this season (Carter, Jr., 10, Golden 2, Jorgenson 22, Morris 17, Poole 12).
Series Notes vs. Clemson
• This is the oldest and longest-running series the Yellow Jackets have with an ACC member. The 123 all-time meetings are 32 more than Tech has played with any other ACC member. The series dates back to the 1912-13 season, when John Heisman coached the Tech basketball team.
• Clemson has won 14 of the last 17 meetings in the series, including the last eight in a row. The Yellow Jackets trail 41-31 to the Tigers since joining the ACC.
• The Tigers won the team’s first meeting this season, 45-41, on Feb. 4 in Clemson.
• Tech has an all-time record of 40-23 against the Tigers at home, including 27-15 record at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The Jackets have won 21 of 30 against the Tigers at home since 1983.
• Clemson head coach Brad Brownell is 7-0 vs. Tech, while Brian Gregory is 0-5 vs. Clemson. In the seven meetings with the Tigers and Brownell, the Yellow Jackets have averaged 53 points per game. never scoring more than 62 in any one game.
• Tech actually won four of the first five meetings with Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum under Paul Hewitt, but the Tigers have won the last eight in a row there.
• Tech is just 16-41 all-time in games played at Clemson, including an 8-34 mark in Littlejohn Coliseum. Tech was Clemson’s first opponent in Littlejohn Coliseum back on Nov. 30, 1968. The Tigers won, 76-72.
• Tech’s 111-108 win against the Tigers at Littlejohn Coliseum on Jan. 24, 2001 is the highest-scoring regulation game Tech has had with any ACC opponent. The Jackets defeated Florida State by the same score in Tallahassee (in two OTs) on Feb. 11, 1999, and lost to Wake Forest in the 2007 ACC Tournament, 114-112 in double-overtime.
• The Yellow Jackets have won all three ACC Tournament meetings with the Tigers, including a 69-61 semi-final decision on the way to the 1993 conference title in Charlotte.
About Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is in its third year under head coach Brian Gregory. The Yellow Jackets have been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won three ACC Championships, played in the NCAA Tournament 16 times and played in two Final Fours (1990, 2004).
Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball on social media by liking their Facebook Page, or following on Twitter (@GTMBK). For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
