Field Level Media
Nov 20, 2018
Marcquise Reed scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds as No. 16 Clemson cruised past Georgia 64-49 on Tuesday in the second round of the Cayman Islands Classic at George Town.
Clemson improved to 5-0 for the first time since the 2013-14 season and will play in Wednesday's championship game against Creighton.
Georgia, in its first season under coach Tom Crean, slipped to 3-2. The Bulldogs will oppose Georgia State on Wednesday.
Reed, a graduate guard and a second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference pick last season, made 9 of 19 shots from the floor en route to matching his career scoring high. A 6-foot-3 guard, Reed is averaging more than seven rebounds a game.
Reed's backcourt mate, Shelton Mitchell, added 13 points, and senior forward Elijah Thomas posted his second consecutive double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Georgia sophomore forwards Nicolas Claxton and Rayshaun Hammonds, who combined to score 53 points in a first-round victory on Monday, managed only 10 points between them against Clemson. They made a combined 4 of 15 shots from the floor.
Hammonds scored a career-high 31 points in a 12-point win against Illinois State on Monday.
The Bulldogs, who were outrebounded by Clemson by a 42-29 margin, had only one player in double figures -- senior forward Derek Ogbeide with 11 points. Junior guard Tyree Crump had nine points for Georgia.
Clemson led 34-26 at the half and gradually pulled away after intermission, eventually leading by as many 17 at 59-42 with 4:14 left in the game.
The Tigers, who were tabbed for a sixth-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference preseason poll after a school-record tying 25 wins last season, had nine steals and forced 16 Georgia turnovers.
--Field Level Media