Jaland Lowe scored nine of his 21 points in the final 2:34 as visiting Georgetown withstood a furious Clemson rally for an 85-78 victory on Friday in Clemson, S.C.
Elmarko Jackson scored 12 of his 17 points in the final 11:08 for the Hoyas (4-0), who surrendered a 19-point first half lead.
Vincent Iwuchukwu contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds as Georgetown topped Clemson for the second straight year and notched its second victory this season over a power conference team.
Ace Buckner scored 20 points and Cole Certa added 14 points to lead the Tigers (3-1).
Both were instrumental in Clemson’s comeback. Certa made a layup with 6:23 left to give the Tigers their final lead, 66-64. Georgetown followed with a 10-1 burst to regain control.
Jackson, a Kansas transfer, scored eight points in the Hoyas’ run. Then Lowe, a Kentucky transfer, took over, scoring their next nine points, with 3 coming on a long shot from beyond the arc with 1:13 left that made it 79-71.
The Tigers took their only lead of the first half, 14-12, on a basket by Dylan Faulkner. The Hoyas answered with an 18-point spree.
Lowe triggered it with a pair of free throws and a logo 3-pointer. Josiah Parker (11 points) added a triple and a three-point-play runner. Those buckets sandwiched a 3 from Gabriel Landeira.
When Iwuchukwu closed the surge with a spinning low-post layup, Georgetown led 34-16 with 8:10 left in the half.
David Fuchs ended Clemson’s drought with a banked hook shot. But Georgetown extended its run of successful field goal attempts to 10, including the final two by Jackson.
His 3-pointer with 6:04 left gave the Hoyas their biggest lead of the night at 41-22.
Clemson surged in the second half as Buckner went 5-for-5 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers. With 8:01 left, Certa drained a triple to give the Tigers a 62-61 lead.
But the advantage was short-lived as Lowe and Jackson took control.
