Jaeden Zackery, Clemson Tigers Claim Road Victory at Georgia Tech

The Clemson Tigers won their second straight ACC game and kept themselves near the top of the league standings.

Jan 7, 2025; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Clemson Tigers head coach Brad Brownell talks with guard Jaeden Zackery (11) during the first half against the Louisville Cardinals at KFC Yum! Center. | Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers men's basketball team won their second straight game and stayed near the top of the ACC standings with a 70-59 victory over Georgia Tech on Tuesday night in Atlanta.

The Tigers (14-4, 6-1 ACC) remained a game back of the Duke Blue Devils, who are the only remaining undefeated team in ACC play. Louisville, Wake Forest and North Carolina all have one loss, although the Tigers and the Cardinals have played two more games than the Demon Deacons and the Tar Heels.

Clemson lost to Louisville by 10 points last week, which remains their only blemish in conference action.

The Tigers led Tuesday's game wire-to-wire, thanks in part to finished with 16 assists on 23 made shots, which led to an efficient offensive evening.

Clemson leaned on Jayden Zachary, who scored a season high 21 points for Clemson. That included three 3-pointers, six rebounds and three steals.

Clemson set the tone defensively as it held Georgia Tech without points for nearly seven minutes to start the game.

Once the Yellow Jackets found their footing, they cut deep into Clemson’s lead, trimming it to 23-20. But, from there, the Tigers found a scoring surge, as they went on a 13-5 run to end the half and take a 36-25 lead into the locker room.

At one point in the second half, the Tigers led by 19 points, up 57-38 with 8:27 left in the game. Georgia Tech was able to trim the lead to 11 before the end of regulation.

Clemson forward Ian Schieffelin finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals as Georgia Tech found him difficult to slow down all evening.

Chase Hunter scored 14 points from the perimeter, while forward Viktor Lakhin finished with d 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and one blocked shot.

Georgia Tech (8-10, 2-5) was led by Baye Ndongo, who finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. He also had three steals. Nathan George scored 13 points and dished out four assists. Jaeden Mustaf had 12 points off the bench. Javian McCollum added 11 points.

Clemson returns to ACC action on Saturday when they go to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers at noon eastern on The CW.