Clemson Ends Regular Season With Home Loss To Georgia Tech
CLEMSON — Clemson’s regular season came to an end the same way it started: with an ACC loss.
The Tigers rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to take a 59-50 lead with 5:15 to play, but a scoring drought in the last 2:40 helped Georgia Tech finish with a 6-0 run and a 65-62 victory at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Clemson fell to 15-15 overall and 9-11 in ACC play after its second consecutive loss. The Tigers had won four of five before this week, but now they head into the ACC tournament locked into the 8-9 game Wednesday. The Tigers were blown out 70-58 last Wednesday at Virginia Tech.
"I’m proud of this group," Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. "I’m disappointed with what happened tonight. I take responsibility for that. This last week didn’t end the way we wanted it to. That’s on me. But let’s try to pick ourselves up here, dust ourselves off and let’s try to get focused again. Let’s go try to have a special week at the ACC tournament."
Tevin Mack scored 19 points for Clemson on Senior Night but missed two 3-point attempts in the final 12 seconds, including a last-second heave at the buzzer after a long inbounds pass was tipped by Aamir Simms to him.
"I think we fought hard in the second half," Mack said. "We just let up a little bit and made some errors on offense, some silly turnovers, and just didn’t get stops on defense down the stretch that we needed to win the game."
Georgia Tech scored 16 of the last 19 points.
Simms scored 12 points for a Tiger team that shot just 35 percent from the field. Georgia Tech, which shot 43 percent, got 20 points and the go-ahead layup from Michael DeVoe.
The Yellow Jackets (17-14, 11-9), which swept the Tigers this season, closed with a four-game winning streak and this marks the third time ever they've finished with 11 conference wins. They dropped their appeal of the NCAA’s postseason ban earlier this week, so they’ll miss the ACC tournament in Greensboro.
Clemson started the season with a loss to Virginia Tech but went on to win 11 of the next 15 games at home before Friday night.
