Tigers To Host Yellow Jackets Tuesday Night at 7:00 PM

Feb. 7, 2005

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Clemson has had a week off to savor an 88-73 victory over 22ndranked Maryland on Feb. 1. It broke a 13-game losing streak for theTigers against Maryland, who was coming off consecutive wins over2004 Final Four teams Georgia Tech and Duke. Sharrod Ford scored 25points and had 10 rebounds in Clemson’s win over Maryland, aspecial performance for the Tiger from Suitland, MD. It was Ford’sthird consecutive double-double, the first time he has done that inhis career. If he gets a doubledouble against Georgia Tech he wouldbe the first Tiger to have four in a row since Harold Jamison hadfour straight in 1998-99. Ford needs three points against GeorgiaTech to reach the 1,000-mark for his career. When he does he willbecome the 29th player in Clemson history to reach that figure.Ford has averaged 21.3 points and 11.7 rebounds per game over hislast three contests and has scored in double figures in 10 of hislast11 games. Clemson scored half of its 88 points in the paintagainst Maryland. It was the most points scored in the paint by theTigers all season. Freshmen, Cliff Hammonds, Sam Perry and JamesMays all started in the win over Maryland. It was the first timesince the 1996 NCAA Tournament game against Georgia that Clemsonhas started three freshmen in the same game. Clemson’s fourfreshmen combined for 27 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists inthe victory. Sam Perry was a big contributor to Clemson’s win overMaryland with 14 points on 6-9 field goal shooting and a defensiveeffort that shut out Nik Caner- Medley in the first half. Perry hadscored just 11 points in 8 ACC games entering the Maryland game.Shawan Robinson scored 22 points off the bench in the win overMaryland, the most points by a Clemson reserve since Jamar McKnighthad 23 off the bench in a win over Elon in December of 2001.Clemson has beaten Georgia Tech in Littlejohn Coliseum more oftenthan any other school. The Tigers have a 25-7 lead in the series ingames played in the current home of the Tigers. Clemson has madeconsiderable improvement in terms of turnovers in recent games.Clemson averaged 20.2 turnovers per game for its first five ACCgames this season, but has averaged just 12.3 turnovers per gameover the last four league games. Clemson’s defense held Maryland to39.1 percent field goal shooting, 18 percent on three-pointshooting and an 8/16 assist/turnover ratio. That was the secondbest defensive figure against Maryland in a game this year.