Clemson 79 – Georgia Tech 76
by Grayson Mann
- Clemson overcame a double-digit deficit in the second half and capped the regular season with a 79-76 victory over Georgia Tech on Senior Day at Littlejohn Coliseum, Saturday.
- Georgia Tech opened the action, shooting 69 percent from the floor, creating plenty of problems for the Tigers.
- The Yellow Jackets engineered a 12-0 run to take a 20-14 lead with 11:02 left in the first half
- Despite Clemson’s struggles on offense early, Nick Davidson opened up with 10 points.
- Clemson struggled from deep to start the action. Georgia Tech packed the paint when RJ Godfrey posted up by the glass. His kickout passes resulted in catch-and-shoot misses as Clemson opened up 3-12 from beyond the arc.
- Georgia Tech shot 50% from the floor to close the first half, entering the halftime break with a 39-33 lead.
- Nick Davidson led the Tigers with 12 points in the first half.
- Georgia Tech opened the second half with plenty more offense, jumping out to a 47-37 lead.
- Littlejohn was on the brink of an anxious breakdown, and suddenly, the Tigers got rolling.
- Carter Welling punched in a three from the top of the arc, and followed it with a jumper with precise touch
- Butta Johnson then hit a three-pointer with 13:52 left to go in the action to push the deficit to two.
- His efforts continued, deflecting a pass as he went coast to coast for an and-one layup, punching Clemson’s first lead of the second half with the extra shot at the charity stripe.
- Ace Buckner and Nick Davidson hit back-to-back three-pointers to put Clemson up 61-56 with 8:33 left to play in the game.
- The back-and-forth nature of the game continued, with Clemson leading Georgia Tech 72-70 with 1:30 left to play.
- Butta Johnson nailed a corner three by Clemson’s punch to extend the lead to five.
- Clemson held on from there, finishing the regular season 22-9 (12-6 ACC).
- Georgia Tech closes the regular season 11-20, losing 12 in a row.
- Johnson finished with a season high of 15 points.
- Nick Davidson added 15 points before fouling out.
- Clemson shot 44.6 percent from the floor.