CLEMSON — With four games left in the regular season, Clemson is on the fringes of the postseason picture. At 13-13, 5-7 in the ACC, the Tigers must win three of their next four games to guarantee an above-.500 finish, which would give them hope of making an NIT appearance.

Coach Brad Brownell said he isn’t thinking about those things. He’s just looking for a consistent effort, starting with Tuesday’s 7 p.m. game at ACC cellar-dweller Georgia Tech (9-17, 2-10).

“I’d hope that our guys are ready to go,” he said Monday. “Our seniors don’t have many games left, and the guys on our team need to do our best to send these guys out right way. The competitor in you should be ready to play all the time. That’s not always the case, though it should be.”

Clemson has been competitive, if nothing else, this season. Saturday’s 74-52 loss at North Carolina was the most lopsided in Brownell’s CU tenure, but the Tigers’ other six ACC losses have come by a total of 20 points.

Brownell’s biggest concern right now is the short turnaround from Saturday to Tuesday games.

This marks the fourth consecutive week the Tigers have faced that turnaround.

“I think it’ll just be getting geared back up. We’ve got to keep getting geared back up,” he said. “I’ve said a couple times that our guys haven’t had a full day to themselves in a while. No school, no basketball where they can do what they want to do. It’s been a little harder with the Tuesday games. If you play on Wednesday or Thursday, you’ve got a day like Sunday to recharge. That’s the only thing, being able to stay charged up all the time.”

The Tigers have split their last eight ACC games, losing three of them by a total of eight points. Tech, meanwhile, has lost 13 of its last 15 and nine of its last 10. Clemson beat the Yellow Jackets 64-62 in Littlejohn Coliseum Jan. 31, holding off a furious comeback led by guard Glen Rice, Jr.

He was suspended last week and won’t play Tuesday, leaving the Jackets without their leading scorer and rebounder. In their first game without him, Virginia Tech needed Dorenzo Hudson’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer to escape with a 74-73 overtime win.

“I think they moved the ball well, got the ball inside a little more than some other times,” Brownell said. “Their guys seemed very confident and played with some good poise. I think (Rice) is a guy who can step up and make big shots like he did at the end of our game.

“Brandon Reed and Jason Morris will get more opportunities, Mfon Udofia (averaging 10.2 ppg) will get a few more touches and (big men) Daniel Miller and Kammeon Holsey will get a few more shots. Maybe they don’t have a guy they can go to at the end of the game, but that didn’t seem to be a problem against Virginia Tech.”

Tech will also likely take a closer look at senior guard Andre Young, who burned the Jackets for a career-high 29 in the teams’ first meeting, nailing seven of nine 3-pointers. Brownell suggested that Tech coach Brian Gregory would show his team clips of that effort as both motivation and incentive.

“I was just making shots,” Young said. “At the same time, guys were really finding me, looking for me, setting screens. It’s my job to knock them down, and I was just making shots that game.”

Brownell said he hasn’t broached the topic of a postseason push with his team. Clemson has made four consecutive NCAA Tournaments (a program-best) but will likely need to win the ACC Tournament and its automatic bid to stretch that string to five.

He’s focusing on tweaking small things to make his team better, while urging consistent, constant effort and excitement.

“We’re trying to finish the season strong,” Young said. “It’s not what happens later, it’s what happens now. We’re focused on the next game, finishing the season strong and trying to do well in the ACC Tournament.”