Elder returns for road win
By Christopher Gooley / Student Publications
B.J. Elder made his long-awaited return at Clemson Tuesday. He scored 11 points to help lead the Jackets to a 70-62 victory.
The Jackets were able to add a pair of components that had been missing in ACC road games before Tuesday night's victory over the Clemson Tigers-toughness and senior shooting guard B.J. Elder.
Elder scored 11 points in his first action since going out in the first half of Tech's overtime loss to Kansas on New Year's Day.
"Before the game, I felt excited. I tried to calm myself down, but it didn't work," Elder said according to the AJC.
Elder certainly strengthened the team, but an unexpected contribution came from freshman forward Jeremis Smith, who has been out of the lineup since dislocating his knee in the third game of the season.
Smith, whose return was surprising, helped contribute some toughness that the Jackets had been lacking in his 15 minutes of action.
"That's what [Coach Hewitt] recruited me for, I'm a tough player and I'm aggressive," Smith said.
With the win, Tech became the last ACC team to record a conference victory on the road. The victory evened Tech's ACC record at 5-5, as they bounced back from an 82-65 loss against No. 4 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium last Saturday.
Playing without Elder on the road, the Jackets lacked the grit that helped the team make it to the NCAA Championship game last season.
"Right now, we're not tough enough to do it. Point blank. No need in sugar coating it. We're just not tough enough right now to do it. I know we have it in us. I'm to blame as much as anybody, but to win on the road you've got to show some toughness and I don't think we've done that. We haven't deserved to win a game yet," Hewitt said after the loss.
The Blue Devils bolted ahead of the Jackets at the end of the first half with Jarrett Jack saddled on the bench with two fouls and never looked back. Jack finished the game with 18 points to lead the Jackets.
The run came minutes after Cameron Indoor Stadium went silent as Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski collapsed to the floor; he returned to the huddle after a few seconds and finished the game on the sideline.
The Devils were led by junior guard J.J. Redick; the defense of several Tech players including Mario West, who played very well in the contest, held Redick to hitting only one-third of his shots, but he still led the Devils with 26 points in the contest.
