Instant Takeaways from Georgia Tech's 79-76 Loss To Clemson

The Georgia Tech regular season is over as the upset bid by the Yellow Jackets falls short in Clemson against the Tigers. In a near-upset win on the road, the Yellow Jackets couldn’t make enough plays to pull out the victory and hand Clemson a quad 3 loss. Let’s take a look at some key takeaways from the 12th consecutive loss for the Yellow Jackets.

1. Jaeden Mustaf coming out party

Mustaf finished with a career high 28 points on 8-14 shooting. More importantly, in this game, he didn’t settle and continued to attack the rim. That led to 12 free throw opportunities for Mustaf, and he converted that to 11 points. Had 11 points on a perfect 4-4 shooting from the floor in the first half. Mustaf added 17 points in the second half and went 9-10 for the charity stripe. He did a little bit of everything for the Yellow Jackets. During the second half of the season, you could see the light begin to turn on for Mustaf, and it happened today with him showing his two-way ability. Whatever he decides to do next year, whether to stay or leave, someone is going to get a gem of a player in Mustaf. He can defend 1-4, he is physical, athletic, and proved today he can be a reliable scorer for an offense.

2. Akai Fleming ends freshman season strong

The true freshman has been one of the bright spots this season for the Yellow Jackets and while it could be his last game with Georgia Tech, he played at a high level. He finished with 18 points, six rebounds, and an assist. As he always does, A lot of his damage came from the charity stripe as he went 6-7. He also knocked down two three-pointers. When you take a deeper dive at his numbers, Fleming had the second-highest offensive rating on the team with a 97.6. He contributed 14 points in the first half and was a go-to source alongside Mustaf in the first half. The uber-talented freshman will be a name to watch in college basketball moving forward.

3. Bench produces nothing for the Yellow Jackets

Maybe it was the coach's decision for the final game of the season, but Damon Stoudamire ran a seven-man rotation in the first half and maintained that throughout the game. One of the main players who has been in the rotation has been Kam Craft, who didn’t log a single minute. Neither did Peyton Marshall. Georgia Tech only produced two bench points throughout the entire game. The two points came from Chas Kelley III, who went 1-7 from the field. The bench was definitely one of the Achilles heels for the Yellow Jackets this season and a part of some of the struggles in 2025-2026.

4. Georgia Tech has one of its best games of the season from the charity stripe

Free throws have long been a topic in the Damon Stoudamire era, and the inability to nail free throws in games, but on Saturday, the Yellow Jackets produced one of their best games of the year. Georgia Tech went 18-21 from the charity stripe. The main guys who helped contribute to that were Fleming and Mustaf, who went a combined 17-19 from the charity stripe. Both players didn’t settle and continued to attack the Clemson defense and was insrumental in the near upset win and how well they did at the free throw line.

5. Kowacie Reeves finishes his Yellow Jackets career with a 20-point game

After a quiet first half of just seven points on 3-5 shooting, Reeves picked it up in the second half with a great performance. Reeves scored 13 points on 6-7 shooting in the second half. He had it going down the stretch and was a go-to option for the Yellow Jackets. His big shot making keep the Yellow Jackets in it while Clemson made a run. He finished the game wth 20 points on 9-12 shooting and nailed two three pointers. He also added four rebounds and a block. It wasn’t the season Reeves probably hoped for, but he was the most consistent Georgia Tech player in 2026.