Clemson Tigers 16-4 (6-1) at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 11-8 (2-4)

When: Saturday, January 24th – Noon
Where: McCamish Pavilion – Atlanta, GA
TV: ACC Network

The Rivalry

The Tigers and the Yellow Jackets are permanent basketball rivals (whereas FSU is Clemson’s permanent football rival) making this game one of an annual home-and-home between the two foes. The Yellow Jackets have been rather disappointing this season and quite frankly for the past 16 years. In Paul Hewitt’s last season (2011), they went just 13-18. They then missed the tournament all five years under Brian Gregory, only made it once in seven years with Josh Pastner (who is currently struggling at UNLV), and are looking at missing the tournament for the third straight year with Damon Stoudamire.

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It is wild to see how bad things have gotten given this is the program in the heart of Atlanta that had Chris Bosh, Stephon Marbury, Dennis Scott, Mark Price, Jarrett Jack, Matt Harpring, and Travis Best. Alas, the last few years of college sports have taught us that history and prestige mean far less than money and coaching. Just look at what Indiana football has done.

Clemson has won three straight games against the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta but hasn’t dominated the rivalry like you might expect given Georgia Tech’s struggles described above. They’re 6-6 in their last 12 contests vs. Georgia Tech.

2025: 1-1
2024: 1-1
2023: 2-0
2022: 1-1
2021: 1-1
2020: 0-2

Prior to that, when Clemson was actually a less consistent program than today, they largely owned the series. In Coach Brownell’s first nine season, some of which were pretty lean years, Clemson went 16-4 against Georgia Tech. It is time to get back to that.

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2019: 2-0
2018: 2-0
2017: 1-1
2016: 1-2
2015: 1-1
2014: 3-0
2013: 2-0
2012: 2-0
2011: 2-0

Meet the 2025-26 Yellow Jackets

This Georgia Tech squad is only 11-8, but they’re dangerous as they proved last Saturday with a somewhat stunning upset win in Raleigh against the Wolfpack. They have several starters that play at a high-level and post impressive stats, however if I had to describe their offense in one word it would be “sloppy.”

Georgia Tech is ranked 185th in offensive efficiency despite having a trio of dangerous offensive weapons that can score in a hurry. Their issue is turnovers. 19.1% of their possessions end in a turnover. That’s 294th best nationally and the worst among all Power 5 basketball programs. They are particularly bad at avoiding steals ranking 318th in steals allowed. This could be a field day for Jestin Porter, Clemson’s newest Jaeden Zackery-style steal-machine.

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When the Yellow Jackets actually hang onto the ball, they have some interesting pieces. Three players in particular stand out. Naithan George bolted this offseason via transfer to Syracuse. That left a big void at PG, and Coach Stoudamire was able to fill it with Portland, OR native Lamar Washington. The 6-foot-4 senior PG from Pacific has impressived me whenever I watch. He can create his own basket and is averaging 11.8 points and 6.1 assists. He is a part of their turnover problem though as he averages an ugly 2.9 turnovers per game.

Baye Ndongo is now in his third year at Georgia Tech. When he and Naithan George hit the scene as a true freshmen duo in Atlanta, I thought Stoudamire had the program on the rise. Unfortunately for Georgia Tech, Ndongo hasn’t made any statistical improvements and George transferred. Ndongo is still a formidable post presence though. He averages 11.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game (both career lows). With injuries to other front court players, his presence is critical. Clemson can’t let him have a field day in the post like Ven-Allen Lubin did for NC State on Tuesday.

I’ve buried the lede in this article. Kowacie Reeves is Georgia Tech’s leading scorer averaging 16.1 points per game. After two years at Florida, he transferred to Georgia Tech and averaged 9.2 points in 2024. Last year, he only played in 6 games. Now, in his fifth year, he has returned and is having a breakout campaign. He leads the team in 2-point shot attempts (tied) and 3-point shot attempts. He is shooting an efficient 38.6% from deep. Despite playing PF and standing 6-foot-7, Reeves is 30-40 lbs lighter than Clemson’s bigs and therefore should draw Jake Wahlin rather than Godfrey or Welling. While Wahlin seldom wows you on offense — his 8 points against Miami not withstanding — this is a chance for him to play some shutdown defense on the opposing teams star. This will be a fun matchup to watch!

Final Thoughts

Clemson is coming off a home loss to NC State that was probably more emotional for the fans — given the Will Wade context — than the team. Clemson shot 63% from the FT line and committed 13 turnovers (to NC State’s 7). They played poorly.

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NC State was coming off a shocking loss to GT tech and it looked like that splash of cold water whipped them back into form. I expect the same to happen to Clemson now as they travel to Atlanta. Georgia Tech had their “bye” this week and have not played since their win in Raleigh. So, they could be well-rested and confident or rusty and lacking hunger. In either case, Clemson is the better coached, deeper team.

KenPom: Clemson 76, GT 67 (79% win probability)

Kantor: Clemson 73, GT 65