No. 23/24 Tigers push for strong close to ACC first half hosting Jackets

PJ Hall and the Tigers seek the school's first 9-1 start in conference play hosting Georgia Tech.

by TigerNet Staff - Tue Jan 24 11:19:57 GMT-05:00 2023

The No. 23/24-ranked Clemson men's basketball team has a late-night tip-off Tuesday with Georgia Tech in a push for the best 10-game conference start in school history.

The Tigers (16-4, 8-1 ACC) and Yellow Jackets (8-11, 1-8) tip-off in Littlejohn Coliseum is set for 9 p.m. ET. Wes Durham and Dan Bonner will call the broadcast for ACCN. Don Munson and Tim Bourret will broadcast the game on the Clemson Athletic Network.

• Clemson is rated 60th by KenPom with the No. 66 offense/No. 58 defense against No. 157 Georgia Tech with the No. 201 offense/No. 127 defense. The Tigers are given an 89.1% win projection by ESPN's BPI and favored by 10.5 points currently.

• Hunter Tyson is making his case for ACC Player of the Year. He is fifth in the nation in double-doubles (10) and second in the ACC. He's first in defensive rebounding per game in the ACC (8.50) and second nationally. He is one of just nine players nationally averaging at least 15.0 points and 10.0 rebounds.

• Tyson was named Co-ACC Player of the Week for his performance. The first of his career. (Jan. 2). He was also named to the USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List (POY).

• Tyson posted career highs in points (31) and rebounds (15) in the Tigers' 78-64 win over NC State (Dec. 30). It was the first 30-point, 15-rebound game since Horace Grant (vs. WF on Feb. 18, 1987 – 33 and 20).

• Tyson returned for his graduate campaign and will look to become the Tigers' all-time games-played leader in program history. Tyson has played 126 games and needs nine to become the all-time leader (134; Cliff Hammonds, K.C. Rivers, Trevor Booker and David Potter).

• Clemson will face Georgia Tech for the 144th time in program history. The Tigers own a 76-67 advantage in the series and Head Coach Brad Brownell is 19-8 against the Yellow Jackets in his career.

• Clemson is off to an 8-1 start in league games, the best nine-game conference start in Clemson history. This year’s team already has the best five-game league start (tied), six-game start (6-0), seven-game start (7-0) and eight-game start (7-1).

• A victory against Georgia Tech would give this team sole possession of the best 10-game start. That record is an 8-2 start in league play by the 1951-52 Tigers that played in the Southern Conference and the 1986-87 Tigers led by Horace Grant.

• Best 9-game Conference starts in Clemson history

» 8-1, 2022-23, ACC

» 7-2, 1951-52, Southern

» 7-2, 1986-87, ACC

• Best 10-game Conference Starts in Clemson history

» 8-2, 1951-52, Southern

» 8-2, 1986-87, ACC

• Best 11-game Conference Starts in Clemson history

» 9-2, 1951-52, Southern

» 9-2, 1986-87, ACC

» 8-3, 1974-75, ACC

» 8-3, 2017-18, ACC

» 8-3, 1989-90, ACC

• With Clemson's 72-64 victory over No. 24 Duke, the Tigers began league play 7-0, extending their best start to league play in program history.

• Clemson previously got off to its best start in 1996-97 when Clemson advanced to a NCAA Sweet 16 and started 5-0.

• Of note, the Tigers defeated Duke in the second game of the five-game streak in 1996-97. Current Pittsburgh Head Coach Jeff Capel was a starting guard for the Blue Devils.

• Clemson extended its home winning streak to 14 with a 51-50 win over Virginia Tech on Jan. 21.

• That 14-game home winning streak was the longest for the Clemson program since the Tigers had a 12-game home streak between Jan. 27, 2021 and Jan. 4, 2022. Virginia broke the streak with a 75-65 win over the Tigers on Jan. 4, 2022.

• Clemson had a 15-game home streak between March 1, 2017 and Feb. 18, 2018. Duke broke the streak with a 66-57 win over the Tigers on Feb. 18, 2018.

• The longest home winning streak in Clemson history is a 29-gamer from Jan. 7, 1989 to December 15, 1991. Charlotte ended that 29-game streak with a 108-100 victory.

• Overall, the 14-game winning streak is now the eighth longest in school history. Clemson first won at least 12 games in a row at home between Jan. 16, 1951 and December 6, 1952. That was a 15-game streak at Fike Fieldhouse under head coach Banks McFadden.

Clemson stats

--/-- Clemson Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown GP/GS PPG RPG APG MPG

G 0 Josh Beadle 6-3 182 RFr. Columbia, S.C. 19/2 2.7 1.3 1.2 15.5

G 1 Chase Hunter 6-3.5 204 So. Atlanta, Ga. 18/18 14.0 2.7 4.3 31.8

G 2 Dillon Hunter 6-3.5 193 Fr. Atlanta, Ga. 19/0 0.9 1.2 1.1 10.8

F 4 Ian Schieffelin 6-7 230 So. Loganville, Ga. 20/8 5.5 4.0 1.6 18.6

F 5 Hunter Tyson 6-8 217 Gr. Monroe, N.C. 20/20 15.7 10.1 1.6 35.0

F 10 Ben Middlebrooks 6-10.5 242 So. Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 20/7 3.4 2.9 0.4 11.8

G 11 Brevin Galloway 6-3 210 Gr. Anderson, S.C. 20/19 10.4 2.5 2.5 29.6

G 12 Alex Hemenway 6-4 195 Sr. Newburgh, Ind. 12/12 9.8 2.5 1.5 32.3

G 13 Chauncey Gibson 6-5 188 Fr. Dallas, Texas REDSHIRTING

G 14 Devin Foster 6-2 182 Sr. Canton, Mass. 2/0 0.0 0.5 0.0 1.4