Post Game Notes

Feb. 22, 2009

Today's Clemson  victory clinched at least a break even season in ACC road games for the Tigers.  It will be just the fifth season in history the Tigers have posted a break even or better league road record.  Clemson is now 4-2 on the road in ACC play.  This is the first year Clemson has been .500 or better in ACC road games since 1996-97.  That year Clemson finished 4-4 on the road in ACC play and the fourth win was recorded at Georgia Tech.  Clemson has had just two winning seasons in ACC road games in its 55 previous years in the ACC.  Clemson was 4-2 on the ACC road in 1976-77 and 5-2 in 1986-87.

Clemson has also clinched at least a .500 overall ACC record this year. The Tigers are 8-4 and tied for second place in the ACC standings. Clemson was 10-6 last year in the ACC, so Clemson has clinched consecutive league seasons of break even or better. This is the first time Clemson has been .500 or better in ACC play in consecutive seasons since 1988-89 and 1989-90. The Tigers were 7-7 in 1988-89 and 10-4 in 1989-90. Clemson has had consecutive winning ACC seasons just once, 1965-66 (8-6) and 1966-67 (9-5).

Clemson head coach Oliver Purnell has tied the school coaching record for career ACC road wins. Today was his 14th since he became Clemson head coach in 2003-04. He has now tied the record also held by Bill Foster, Cliff Ellis and Bobby Roberts.

Clemson shot .509 from the field goal today. It marked the second consecutive ACC game the Tigers have shot better than 50 percent from the field. Clemson shot 58 percent in the win over Maryland earlier in the week. This is the first time since the 1993-94 season that Clemson has shot over 50 percent from the field in consecutive ACC games. The 1993-94 Tigers actually had a three-game streak in the middle of that season.

Trevor Booker had 21 points and 12 rebounds today. Clemson is now 9-0 this year when Booker records a double-double. Booker shot 7-9 from the field in this game and finished the week 12-14 in two games.

K.C. Rivers had 19 points on 8-12 shooting in the win over Georgia Tech. He was 3-5 on three-point shots as well. Over his career, Rivers had made just 7-25 three-point shots and had averaged 7.0 points per game against the Yellow Jackets in his career. That was his low scoring average against any ACC school. Rivers went over 1600 career points and 200 career steals in today’s game.

Clemson is now 22-4 for the year, just the second time in school history Clemson has won at least 22 of its first 26 games. The only other year was 1986-87 when Clemson was 24-2 to open the season.

Clemson freshman Andre Young had made just 5-19 three-point goals in 11 ACC games entering today’s game. But the guard made 4-4 from long range today. He has now made six straight three-point goals over two games, the longest streak by a Clemson player this year.

Clemson made 12-23 three-point goals, the second consecutive game Clemson has made 12 three-point goals. This is the first time Clemson has made at least 12 three-point goals in consecutive games since last year when the Tigers made 16 in a win at Virginia and made 12 in a double overtime loss at North Carolina.

Clemson trailed Georgia Tech by 15 points at 27-12 in the first half, then gained the eight-point win. This was the fifth time this year Clemson has overcome a double digit defict to gain victory, the fourth time on the road. Today’s comeback set a school record for most victories after trailing by double digits at some point in a game. The previous mark was four double-digit deficits overcome to gain victory in 1989-90. Today marked the second time Clemson overcame a 15-point deficit in an ACC road game to gain victory. Clemson trailed by 15 at Virginia Tech and came back to win 86-82. This is the first time in school history Clemson has overcome a 15-point deficit or more in an ACC road game to gain victory.