Georgia Tech ran out of magic, or gas, Wednesday night, when Clemson pummeled the Yellow Jackets in the paint on the way to a 74-62 win that was barely close in the second half.
Ben Lammers flogged the Tigers (13-8, 3-6 ACC) again, scoring a career-high 25 points and grabbing nine rebounds to remind of his 23 points and 10 rebounds when Tech (13-9, 5-5) beat Clemson 75-63 on Jan. 12 in Atlanta.
Otherwise, the Jackets bore little resemblance to that afternoon, let alone the team that last week upset No. 6 Florida State and No. 12 Notre Dame in McCamish Pavilion.
Tadric Jackson chipped in 12 points off the bench, but beyond him and Lammers, Tech made just 7-of-27 shots. After trailing 32-24 at halftime, the Jackets fell further and further behind, and appeared tired.
Freshman Josh Okogie, Tech’s leading scorer to date, added 12 points, 10 in the second half.
Clemson, which followed a 67-60 win at Pitt Saturday with another win, wasn’t exactly dazzling, but the Tigers bludgeoned the Jackets at close range.
Jaron Blossomgame, the senior forward from Alpharetta who may be a lottery pick in the NBA draft, scored just 10 points, yet Clemson outscored Tech 34-31 in the paint, and 11-9 in second-chance points. When the Jackets beat Clemson for the third straight time last month, they carried both categories, 32-28 and 14-10, respectively.
The Tigers entered the game last in the ACC in rebounding margin at -7.1 per game, but beat the Jackets on the glass, 36-34.
For sake of balance, Clemson graduate student Avry Holmes hit all four of his 3-point shots on the way to scoring 18 points. The Jackets made one shot from beyond the arc.
Tech’s defense was adequate in the first half, as the Tigers made but 11-of-24 shots, but the offense was mostly stale beyond Lammers.
He scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting, flicking several nice jumpers off the catch that seemed to catch Clemson by surprise. Beyond that, the Jackets made 5-of-16 shots and rarely attacked the basket. Okogie scored just two points on two shots.
The Jackets slumped defensively in the second half, yet made a run late, pulling within 65-58 on Quinton Stephens’ fast break bucket off an Okogie steal. Stephens missed the free throw, however, and the Tigers ran down the clock from there without scoring a field goal over the final 6:50, and instead padding the lead with free throws.
