KJ Lewis scored 17 of his career-high 26 points in the second half as Georgetown made enough plays down the stretch for a 79-74 victory over Clemson Saturday afternoon in Washington, D.C.
The Hoyas (4-0) are off to their best start since winning their first eight games of the 2017-18 season and earned their second win over a power conference opponent after beating Maryland on Nov. 7.
Lewis eclipsed his previous career high of 21 set on Jan. 7 for Arizona against West Virginia. He made 7-of-15 shots, 11-of-14 free throws and had five steals.
Lewis scored 13 of his points in the final 15 1/2 minutes after Georgetown trailed 48-46. He hit a 3-pointer and two free throws on consecutive trips with about 12 1/2 minutes left for a 55-50 lead and produced two big plays during Georgetown’s 11-2 spurt in the final minutes.
After Clemson sliced a 10-point lead to 68-66 on a 3 by Hunter with 4:39 left, Lewis got a steal and finished off a 3-point play with 2:45 remaining before getting a soft roll on a stepback jumper with 1:51 left to push Georgetown’s lead to 77-68.
Those shots did not clinch things for the Hoyas as Jake Wahlin buried a corner 3 to get Clemson within 77-74 with 43 seconds left. Following a timeout, Vincent Iwuchukwu hit a jumper in the paint with 14 seconds left and Wahlin fired an airball on the next possession.
Malik Mack added 16 and seven assists for the Hoyas, who shot 51.7% in the second half and 45.3% overall. Iwuchukwu withstood foul trouble and contributed 11 of his 14 in the final 20 minutes, and Caleb Williams finished with 13.
Carter Welling led the Tigers (3-1) with 14 points. Nick Davidson added 13 and Zac Foster finished with 11 as Clemson shot 41% in the game.
Before Georgetown roared back, Welling’s jumper put Clemson up 24-17 with 9:07 left in the first half and the Tigers settled for a 36-33 lead by halftime when Lewis saw his 3-point try go in and out of the basket at the horn.
–Field Level Media
