Tigers Host Georgia Thursday

Dec. 27, 2006

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Clemson has won 12 consecutive games to start the season, tiedfor the second-longest winning streak in school history with the1996-97 team. The longest winning streak by the Tiger program was17 games to start the 1986-87 season. Clemson is ranked 21st by USAToday and 25th by the Associated Press this week. It marks thefirst time since Jan. 11, 1999 that the Tigers have been ranked byboth polls in the same week. The Tigers rank sixth in the Sagarincomputer ratings and 12th in the RPI after games played onSaturday, December 23. Clemson is one of just four remainingunbeaten teams in the country. Clemson is 2-0 this season versusteams from the Southeastern Conference. The Tigers defeatedMississippi State at home, 69-66, in November, then won 74-53 overSouth Carolina on the road. James Mays is coming off an outstandingweek in wins over Georgia Southern and Western Carolina. Versus theEagles, he totaled a career-high 22 points. He nearly recorded atriple-double against the Catamounts on December 23, as he posted14 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists. Clemson has won 23consecutive games with Mays in the lineup, an 11-0 record last yearand an 12-0 record so far this year. In the 12-point win overGeorgia Southern, Clemson had 17 steals and just 13 fouls. It wasfirst time the Clemson team has had more steals that fouls sincethe fourth game of last year when the Tigers accomplished the featagainst Charleston Southern. K.C. Rivers has scored in doublefigures in every game this year even though he has not started. His12-game streak of consecutive double figure scoring games as areserve is a Clemson record. Rivers has half of the Tigers’ six20-point scoring games this season. Clemson point guard VernonHamilton is celebrating his 22nd birthday at tonight’s game. Lastyear the Bulldogs handed the Tigers a 72-69 loss on his birthday,so the Richmond, VA native hopes to fare better this season. VernonHamilton has upped his steal total in recent games and now is sixthin the ACC in steals per game. He has 226 for his career, whichranks 18th on the all-time conference list. Junior co-captain CliffHammonds ranks first in the ACC in assist/turnover ratio thisseason (2.56). He was third in the league in this category a yearago. For his career, Hammonds has a 1.72 assist/turnover ratio(239/139). Georgia Head Coach Dennis Felton was an assistant atClemson from 1994-98. He coached on three NCAA Tournament teams atClemson.