CLEMSON — What seemed to be another game to add to the win column quickly slipped into a heartbreaking conference loss for the Clemson Tigers Tuesday night at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Even though Clemson led in three-point percentage, free-throw percentage, assists, and steals in the game, Georgia Tech managed to stun the borderline-ranked Tigers in triple overtime, 89-86.
What happened?
As the pregame graphics flew across the large screens inside Littlejohn Colosseum, two keys to a Clemson victory were shown. One of those was winning the rebound battle.
The Yellow Jackets outrebounded Clemson 56-46, including a 24-16 advantage on the offensive glass.
“Defensive rebounding has been a problem for us,” head coach Brad Brownell said. “We kept talking about it at every timeout and halftime, and ultimately, I told them it would cost us a game. And it cost us a game.”
Looking backward, the Yellow Jackets (11-12, 5-7 ACC) outrebounded Clemson in their matchup earlier this year, too. Despite the loss, they kept it close due to their ability to play off of rebounds and maintain their own pace of play.
Such a key piece of Georgia Tech’s success was on the radar before and during Tuesday’s game.
Fast forward to now, where Clemson (18-5, 10-2 ACC) has earned its second conference loss and will definitely drop significantly in the NET rankings. Even with a lead in rebounds early in the game, things didn’t end that way.
Tech outscored the Tigers 29-13 in second chance points.
“We almost played a game and a half, but 24 offensive rebounds,” Brownell said, “that’s hard to overcome.”
It isn’t hard to see how detrimental just a few offensive rebounds can affect a game, and the Tigers fully felt it Tuesday night.
A question remains unanswered as to what changed. After leading in rebounds to falling drastically behind, something big must’ve caused the downfall.
“Viktor [Lakhin] didn’t play much,” Brownell said.
With only 15 minutes played, Lakhin, the Tigers’ starting center, fouled out with under four minutes to play in regulation. It forced Clemson to play with either a shorter lineup or a less-experienced one with Christian Reeves or Myles Foster in. However, in such a tight game, they weren’t fully allowed to make up for Lakhin’s departure.
“Maybe I should have thrown Christian in there…he got seven rebounds,” Brownell said. “I wish we could have had a little more experience to feel comfortable with that.”
Foul trouble and rebounding are only a few things that will need some tweaking for the Tigers before they face No. 2 Duke Saturday at Littlejohn Colosseum.
photo by Ken Ruinard / USA TODAY Network