#18 Tigers to Play Host to Georgia Tech Saturday Afternoon in First Home ACC Contest

Jan. 5, 2007

Series NotesOverall: Tech leads 55-52at Clemson: Clemson leads 33-15at Littlejohn: Clemson leads 26-8at Georgia Tech: Tech leads 38-18Last Year: Clemson won at Tech, 73-63 Clemson won at Clemson, 95-82Last Tech Win: 64-56 at Tech, 2004-05

Quick Facts Clemson is one of two undefeated teams in college basketball, joining UCLA, who is 13-0 and plays at Oregon on Saturday. Clemson is sixth in the latest Sagarin computer ranking and eighth in the latest RPI. Georgia Tech is 30th in Sagarin and 47th in RPI (entering games of Friday, Jan. 5).

Clemson is coming off a 68-66 win at Florida State last Wednesday. It was just the ninth time in Clemson history that the Tigers won their first ACC road game of the year.

Clemson will be looking to go 2-0 in the ACC for the first time since the 1996-97 season. That year Clemson opened 5-0 in the ACC.

Clemson has a 15-0 record, the second longest winning streak in school history and the second longest winning streak to open a season. The Tigers were 17-0 to open the 1986-87 season.

Clemson is ranked 18th in USA Today and 23rd in Associated Press. The #18 ranking is Clemson’s highest since December 28,1998 when the Tigers were 14 in AP and 16 in USA Today.

Clemson forward James Mays has played in 26 consecutive Clemson victories, the first 11 games of last year and all 15 games this year. He is currently seventh in the ACC in rebounding, third in steals, seventh in field goal percentage, 10th in blocked shots and fifth in offensive rebounds.

Forcing turnovers and rebounding will be key stats to watch in this game. Tech and Clemson rank 1-2 in the ACC in steals per game and the two teams are second and fourth, respectively, in rebound margin.

K.C. Rivers has scored in double figures in every game this year even though he has not started. His 15-game streak of consecutive double figure scoring games as a reserve is a Clemson record, breaking the previous record of seven in a row by Dale Davis in 1988-89.

Clemson swept Georgia Tech last year, the first time Clemson swept the Yellow Jackets in a season series since 1996-97.

Cliff Hammonds, who scored the winning field goal with 2.8 seconds left in the win over Florida State, played 37 minutes without a turnover against the Seminoles and now leads the ACC in assist/turnover ratio (2.84).

Clemson freshman Trevor Booker has blocked at least one shot and is fifth in the ACC in blocks per game. He is shooting a team best 63 percent from the field and is 10th in the ACC in rebounding (6.9).

Vernon Hamilton is coming off a 19-point game in the win at Florida State. The senior went ahead of Vincent Hamilton (no relation) on the all-time assist list in the win over Florida State (339).