In Atlanta, Tigers preview tourney site with chance to move up

Four games left in ACC play, the Tigers are competing for ACC Tournament seeding, and possibly an NIT bid.

Virginia, NC State and Miami are all at 7-5, playing for seeds 4-6, but if they struggle in this final stretch, could be in competition with Clemson for a middle of the pack placement in Atlanta in a couple weeks.

The Terrapins and Tigers both fall at 5-7, playing for 7 and 8 seeds, and Maryland would own a tiebreaker if they were to finish in the same spot due to their 64-62 win in Littlejohn. Virginia Tech, at 4-8, is the only other team in range to give the Tigers trouble.

Clemson plays two teams below and above them in the standings down the stretch – at Georgia Tech (12th, 9-17) tonight, NC State (5th, 18-9) Saturday, Virginia Tech (9th, 15-12) next Thursday and at Florida State (1st, 19-7) next Sunday.

Winning three of four is the realistic goal – placing the Tigers at 8-8 in conference play and with a good shot at that 7-seed – avoiding a date with the ACC regular season champ in a noon game on Friday in Atlanta in a little over two weeks.

Taking a closer look at tonight…

The Matchup

Down 34-19 at the half back in January, Georgia Tech made a charge in the second session, led by the now suspended guard Glen Rice Jr. with a 22-8 run in the final four minutes in the 64-62 Tigers’ win.

The AJC reported yesterday GT guard Jason Morris also “may not play” with a foot injury sustained in a overtime loss at Virginia Tech over the weekend. Combined with Rice Jr., that could be 20.6 points and 9.9 rebounds per game gone from the Yellow Jackets’ lineup tonight.

With one or both playing, Georgia Tech is still just averaging 59.7 points per game in conference play – giving up 67.8. They’ve failed to score 60 points seven times in ACC play, and were run of their gym 70-38 by Virginia early on in ACC play. In their new digs of Philips Arena while Alexander Memorial Colisuem is under renovation, the Yellow Jackets are shooting just 37.4 percent in ACC play – on the season, they’re hitting 43.6 percent.

In conference games, Clemson has only held two teams to less than 40 percent shooting – winning both (79-59 against FSU and 78-58 at Wake Forest), but have limited seven ACC opponents to less than a point per possession (5-2 in those games – both losses by two points, at BC and Maryland).

Brian Gregory’s Yellow Jackets have been held below a point per possession in seven ACC games, compiling a 1-6 record.

With the possibility of just six recruited scholarship players in the lineup, there’s a good chance Clemson is able to lock down Georgia Tech offensively again – they’ll just need someone to step up on the scoring end much like Andre Young did in the first matchup this season (a career-high 29 points).

Consistency from junior forwards Devin Booker and Milton Jennings has boosted the Tigers of late.

Booker has scored nine or more points and averaged 7.1 rebounds in his last eight games, while Jennings has hit 6-of-his-last-12 3-pointers and scored 10.8 points per game since coming back from suspension.

GT rebounding, playing at ACC Tourney site

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Stats to Watch

• Perimeter shooting – Georgia Tech ranks last in the ACC in 3-point percentage defense (38.7), and allowed the Tigers to hit 8-of-17 (Andre Young 7-of-9 by himself). Clemson is second-to-last in perimeter defense and allowed 50 percent 3-point shooting in Littlejohn from the Yellow Jackets (9-of-18).

• Turnovers – Georgia Tech is 11th in the conference in turnovers per game (14.2) and turnovers forced (10.4), while the Tigers are 2nd in turnovers (10.7) and turnovers forced (14.7).

• Rebounds – The Yellow Jackets out-rebounded the Tigers in Clemson 33-24 with 11 offensive rebounds. They rank 2nd in the ACC in rebounding percentage (52) – Clemson falls in the middle at sixth (50.5).

Prediction

Clemson 63 Georgia Tech 58