GAMEDAY Mens Basketball
Clemson 72, Georgia Tech 51
(AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
By PETE IACOBELLI
AP Sports Writer
CLEMSON, S.C. - PJ Hall scored 17 points and Brevin Galloway added 14 as No. 24 Clemson used a fast start to put away Georgia Tech 72-51, continuing its surprising start in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Tigers (17-4) are 9-1 and in first place midway through the ACC season. They stayed that way by getting out quickly on the struggling Yellow Jackets (8-12, 1-9), who've lost their past six games.
Clemson came out fast, playing like a team on top in the ACC. The Tigers got a 3-pointer from Hunter Tyson on their opening possession - his second straight after hitting the game-winning three to beat Virginia Tech 51-50 last Saturday - and pair by Galloway.
The Boston College transfer was fouled as he made another 3 and converted the foul shot for a four-point play.
By the time Hall finished a three-point play, the Tigers were ahead 15-2 less than five minutes in.
Clemson, though, couldn't sustain its early shooting touch and Georgia Tech used a 12-2 run to get itself back in it and trail 25-22.
But Galloway and reserve Chauncey Wiggins fueled another burst with consecutive threes to restore Clemson's double-digit edge.
It was more of the same in the second half. The got a three-point play by the 6-foot-10 Hall and a three by Dillon Hunter as they opened the period on a 12-6 run and steadily increased its lead.
The Yellow Jackets could not keep up and were swept in the regular season by the Tigers for the first time since 2018-19.
Ja'von Franklin had 12 points to lead Georgia Tech. Miles Kelly, the Jackets' leading scorer coming in at 13.6 points a game, finished with nine on 4-of-12 shooting. He made just one of his six attempts from behind the arc.
BIG PICTURE
Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets are offensively challenged this season - they're next to last in ACC shooting percentage - and that showed itself once more against Clemson. Georgia Tech missed eight of its 11 3-pointers in the opening half to fall into a hole they couldn't get out of.
Clemson: Maybe it's time to pay more attention to the Tigers, who are the ACC's only one-loss team halfway through conference play. Hall is an inside force while versatile forwards like Tyson and Galloway provide outside shooting and leadership. Clemson hasn't had as complete a team since its 2017-18 group that advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.
January 24, 2023
| Georgia Tech | ||||||||||
| Player | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| D. Smith | 5-14 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 1-10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| D. Coleman | 3-13 | 0-0 | 1-7 | 0-4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| J. Franklin | 6-9 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| M. Kelly | 4-12 | 0-0 | 1-6 | 0-2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| J. Moore | 2-5 | 3-4 | 1-2 | 3-6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| K. Sturdivant | 2-9 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 1-2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| R. Howard | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| J. Meka | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 22-64 (.344) |
3-4 (.750) |
4-23 (.174) |
12-35 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 51 |
| Clemson | ||||||||||
| Player | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| B. Galloway | 5-10 | 1-2 | 3-6 | 0-2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| D. Hunter | 3-5 | 2-2 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 9 |
| I. Schieffelin | 1-5 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 1-7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| H. Tyson | 4-8 | 2-2 | 2-5 | 0-8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| P. Hall | 6-12 | 4-4 | 1-3 | 0-7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 17 |
| C. Wiggins | 5-7 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| B. Middlebrooks | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| R. Godfrey | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| J. Beadle | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Foster | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Nauseef | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Nauseef | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 27-51 (.529) |
9-11 (.818) |
9-19 (.474) |
3-34 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 9 | 72 |
