Feb 28, 2004
By PETE IACOBELLI
AP Sports Writer
CLEMSON, S.C. – When B.J. Elder gets going, so does Georgia Tech.
“It does seem that way,” said Elder, the Yellow Jackets’ leading scorer.
That’s how it was Saturday.
Elder was held to a free throw in the first half and the 18th-ranked Yellow Jackets couldn’t shake last-place Clemson. Then Elder broke loose for 16 of his 17 points over the final 20 minutes and Georgia Tech rolled past the Tigers 79-60.
The Yellow Jackets (20-8, 7-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) reached 20 victories for the first time in eight seasons.
Coach Paul Hewitt knows Elder is a major reason.
But early on, Hewitt watched Elder go 0-of-4 from the field and not have much of an impact in a crazy first half that was delayed about 20 minutes because of a power outage. So when the second half began, Hewitt called the opening play for Elder, who hit an easy jumper.
“It’s a little exasperating at times,” Hewitt said of his star junior. “I shouldn’t have to run sets to get him going. He should know how to take control of the game.”
When Elder was called for charge after a steal that would have extended Tech’s 9-0 opening run, Hewitt said “I wanted to strangle him. Like, ‘Come on, B.J., you’re better than that.”‘
Hewitt says it’s Elder’s unselfishness in looking for teammates that keeps him from the national attention given the game’s top players.
He’s clearly one of the five best players in this league. You can stack him against anybody. Coach Paul Hewitt on B.J. Elder |
“I think if he had a little bit more of me in him, more people would talk about him,” Hewitt said. “He’s clearly one of the five best players in this league. You can stack him against anybody.”
Elder says it’s having talented teammates around him that make him want to give up the ball rather than take the shots. Right after his basket to start the second half, he passed to Marvin Lewis for an easy field goal as the Yellow Jackets took a 31-19 lead.
“We’ve got lots of guys who can score,” he said. “When I see open guys I try and hit them.”
The Yellow Jackets, who snapped a two-game losing streak, hit 20 wins for the first time in Hewitt’s four seasons and the first time since 1995-96 when they went 24-12 and reached the NCAA tournament’s round of 16.
Hewitt was proud of his players for the milestone, but stopped short of guaranteeing an NCAA tournament berth.
“If they were to pick a field today, with everything that we’ve done to this point, I would have to think that we would qualify,” Hewitt said. “Now, we’ve got two more games to play.”
Georgia Tech goes to No. 5 Duke and finishes the regular season at home against Florida State.
Lewis finished with 18 points, his best performance in an ACC game this season.
Clemson (10-16, 3-12) clinched last place in the ACC and a spot in the league’s tournament dreaded 8-9 game for the fifth straight season. It ended the first home season of coach Oliver Purnell in typical fashion – outmanned down the stretch. The Tigers cut the lead to 47-40 on Shawan Robinson’s 3-pointer with 10:09 remaining, but Elder had four points to lead the Yellow Jackets on a 12-3 run.
When Luke Schenscher jammed home the ball with 3:51 to go, Georgia Tech was ahead 73-52 and cruising.
Sharrod Ford led the Tigers with 20 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
Ford says Clemson lacks confidence right now. Even worse, the Tigers go next to play at No. 12 North Carolina, where they’re 0-49 all-time.
“I think everybody is down right now,” Ford said. “But we’ve got to pick it up. There are still games to be played.”
The Yellow Jackets opened crisply to lead 9-0 with less than 4 minutes gone. Then came the power outage at Littlejohn Coliseum that slowed things down for a while.
And when the teams took the floor, Georgia Tech missed 10 straight shots as Clemson crawled to 9-8 over a span of 7:39. Just as suddenly, the Jackets took off again, hitting seven straight field goals during a 16-2 run that lifted them to a 25-11 lead.
Clemson wouldn’t have been close without Ford. The junior scored 13 of the team’s 19 first-half points. He also added nine rebounds and two blocks in the opening half as Georgia Tech took a 27-19 lead.
About the only positive thing for Clemson in the final 10 minutes was Chey Christie’s four-point play, the Tigers first in seven seasons.
