March 29, 2024

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Georgia Tech Travels to No. 13/12 Virginia – Men’s Basketball – Georgia Tech Yellow coats

News Highlights: Georgia Tech Travels to No. 13/12 Virginia – Men’s Basketball – Georgia Tech Yellow coats

THE FLATS – On a five game winning streak, Georgia Tech returns to court Saturday for an ACC road race at 8 p.m. against No. 13/12 Virginia at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia, the second of two games Tech faces top 25 teams this week.

The Yellow Jackets (7-3, 3-1 ACC) took the best of the first of this game on Wednesday-evening, an 83-65 win over home field No. 20/22 Clemson after a 17-day break in their schedule. Tech has won seven of the last eight games after a 0-2 start to the season, including home games against North Carolina (72-67) and Wake Forest (70-54) in their last two games before the shutdown. Tech was offensively efficient in his ACC games, averaging 71.5 points while hitting 51 percent from the floor and 42.1 percent from the three-point reach, turning the ball only 12.3 times per game.

The Cavaliers (9-2, 5-0 ACC), also on a five-game winning streak, have come to life offensively in their last two games with an 80-68 win over Notre Dame at home and an 85-50 defeat of Clemson on the way. Virginia has won its five ACC games with an average of 15.4 points, allowing only 57 points per game, and has been even more efficient on offense with 52.2 percent from the floor, 40.2 percent from the three-point reach and 78.4 percent from the foul line, with only 6.6 turnovers per game.

Saturday’s match will be broadcast nationally on the ACC network and streamed live via the ESPN app. Radio coverage is provided by Georgia Tech Sports Network by Learfield IMG College, with WCNN-Radio (680 AM, 93.7 FM) flagship station in Atlanta. The Tech broadcast can be heard on SiriusXM Ch. 371 (internet Ch. 971) and the TuneIn app.

Senior security guard Jose Alvarado talks to the media on Tuesday.

THE TIPOFF

  • Longest layoff – Wednesday’s game is Georgia TechThe first in 17 days (16 days off), ending the longest break in the season in program history. The Yellow Jackets went 16 days between games once before, during the 1982-83 season, which was an extended vacation.
  • Changing Streaks – A win over Clemson would be Georgia Techthird in a row in the series, which would be the first time that has happened since the Yellow Jackets won five consecutive games against the Tigers in the 2002-03 through 2004-05 seasons.
  • Brownout – The Yellow Jackets have won five of the last 11 encounters with Clemson (a sixth win was canceled by the NCAA Committee on Infractions), following a 10-game skid in the series.
  • Jose Can You See – Senior Guard Jose Alvarado was named ACC Player of the Week January 4 after averaging 22.5 points in leading the Yellow Jackets to a pair of ACC wins in the most recent games against North Carolina and Wake Forest. Alvarado also averaged 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in the two games, hitting 17 of 24 from the floor, 3 of 7 from the three-point reach and 8 of 10 from the foul line.
  • Make their points – Tech leads the ACC in scoring average (80.11 points per game), an average reinforced by 123-120, a four-overtime loss for Georgia State in its season opener. However, the Jackets scored 77 in regulation for that game and have scored more than 70 points in eight games this season, including 97 against Delaware State, a high point for a regulated game under Pastner.
  • Balance – Three Tech starters have averaged double digits for the season, with Jordan Usher and Bubba Parham just below the double digits of 9.7 ppg.
  • Dynamic duo – Michael Devoe and Jose Alvarado score an average of 19.3 and 17.3 points per game in ACC games, at number 3 and 6 respectively. They have combined 56.3 percent of the floor (40-of-71) and 42.4 percent (14-of-33) shot from three-point range. The Jackets are 4-1 this season when both players score in double digits, including both ACC wins.
  • Triple Threat – Jose Alvarado, Michael Devoe and Bubba Parham collectively hit 29 of 64 (45.3 percent) from three points in Tech’s last four games, and have been 19 of 44 (43.2 percent) against ACC.
  • Top of the heap – Three of the four highest scoring games by individuals in the ACC this season belong to Georgia Tech Players – Moses Wright (31 points) vs. Georgia State and Jose Alvarado (29 points each vs. Georgia State and Delaware State).
  • Small ball – Tech 6-9 senior Moses Wright, who has played the “4” position for most of his career, moved to the “5” spot and started 5-10 senior Bubba Parham starting with the December 6 win over Kentucky. The reshuffle has worked, as the Jackets have shot 49.3 percent from the floor, hit 8.3 three-point field goals per game (36.5 percent), flipped the ball just 73 times, and forced 115 in the last seven games. Tech also contributed to 63 percent of his field goals in that journey.
  • Size doesn’t matter – since moving to his small starting grid, Tech blocked only six of his shots after knocking out 13 in his first two games. During TechWith them, Kentucky’s number 4, Nebraska number 28, FSU number 1 and North Carolina number 8 in average height, according to KenPom.com. The Jackets are at number 283.
  • Ball Security – The jackets are ranked No. 4 in the ACC and No. 36 nationally in assist / turnover ratio (1.35), and they are No. 3 in the ACC and No. 28 at the national level in turnover margin (plus -3.9). Only three ACC teams have flipped the ball less times per game than before Tech (12.2) in all games, and Tech has led to the most average revenue in conference games. Six of TechThe top seven scorers have positive assist / revenue ratios.
  • Minutemen – Tech has three of the top 10 players in the ACC in average minutes played (Jose Alvarado, Moses Wright, Michael Devoe), while Bubba Parham is in the top 20.
  • Search for gold – Tech and Clemson have only one common opponent so far: the state of Florida. Tech lost to the Seminoles, 74-61, on December 15 in Tallahassee. The Tigers scored a 77-67 home win over the Noles on December 29.
  • Dean x 7 – Tech placed seven members of the team on the Dean’s List for the fall semester, a one-semester highlight for the program – seniors Jose Alvarado, Shaheed Medlock and Malachi Rice, and sophomores Niko Broadway, Rodney Howard, Jehloni James, and Kyle Sturdivant.

Head coach Josh Pastner speaks to the media on Friday.

SERIES VS. VIRGINIA

Virginia has won 14 of the last 16 meetings to advance 43-40 in the all-time series, which dates back to 1947 … The Cavaliers have won the last six games in the series, including a 63-58 victory in Atlanta in the teams’ only regular season meeting in 2019-20 … Tech is only 1-8 at the John Paul Jones Arena and has lost on his last seven trips to Charlottesville … Since then Tech joined the ACC, the Yellow Jackets are 38-42 against Virginia … Tech has averaged 53.7 points per game in 15 games against Bennett’s Virginia teams, and failed to score 50 points in five of those games. TechThe top of 75 came at the very first meeting in 2010 … Tech and Virginia have played overtime seven times since the 1983-84 season, including a 72-71 triple-overtime win for Tech in Atlanta on January 23, 1984, and a victory of 88-85 double overtime for Virginia in Charlottesville on January 22, 1995.

TEAM TRENDS

  • Four of them TechThe starters score an average of double digits for the season, only Bubba Parham below that figure with 8.8 points per game. Four or more Yellow Jackets have achieved double digits in five games this season, at least three in all games except Wake Forest, in which only Jose Alvarado and Michael Devoe achieved double digits.
  • Tech has turned the ball just 12.0 times per game this season, most impressively being Moses Wright who has just 14 turns in over 357 minutes of action, and Bubba Parham, who has only six in 317 minutes. The Yellow Jackets are plus-55 in that category this season and are number 2 in the ACC.
    Tech was minus 78 last year and was in 14th place.
  • In ACC games, Tech is number 2 on plus-5 (12.3 turnovers per game versus 17.3 per forced game).
  • Tech played his most efficient offensive game of the season against Clemson, with a rating of 132.7 (1,327 points per possession) with an effective field goal percentage of 72.2.
  • Tech made great strides in his attacking efficiency during the latter part of last season and continues to progress, with No. 44 nationally at 110.9, the highest ranking under Josh Pastner. The Jackets have managed to score more than one point per possession in nine out of ten games this season (Tech reached that benchmark eleven times in 2019-2020). Only the state of Florida held out Tech below that figure (94.8) this season.
  • According to KenPom.com, Tech ranks No. 4 in the country in terms of experience (average 2.55 years per player) and No. 10 in minutes of continuity (75.7 percent), a measure of 2019-2020 playing minutes carried over to 2020-21.
  • Two fouls in the first half? No problem. Georgia Tech ranked No. 1 in the nation in participation in 2 errors according to KenPom.com, a measure of the percentage of available minutes played by players with two errors (68.7 percent for Tech). It is currently No. 7 with 67.2 percent. The Jackets led the country in this category in 2018-19, finishing fourth in 2017-18 and 35th in 2016-17.

Michael Devoe, after scoring six three-point field goals and scoring 22 points against Clemson, is the ACC’s top scorer in conference games. (photo by Danny Karnik)

Alexander-Tharpe Fund

The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is Georgia’s fundraising arm Tech athletics, providing scholarships, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech to more than 400 student athletes. Be a part of Georgia’s development TechEveryday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for top-level college athletics championships by supporting the AT Fund Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarships for Georgia directly Tech student athletes, and the Support the Swarm Fund, created to give fans the chance to help Georgia Tech athletics maintains its recent momentum amid the financial challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic! For more information on supporting the yellow jackets, visit atfund.org.

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL

Georgia Tech – The men’s basketball team is in its fifth season under head coach Josh Pastner, after finishing fifth in the ACC in 2019-2020, the highest finish in the program since 2005. Tech has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won three ACC championships (1985, 1990, 1993), played 16 times in the NCAA tournament, and played in two Final Fours (1990, 2004). Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s basketball on social media by their Facebook Page, or subsequent to Twitter (@GTMBB) and Instagram. For more information about Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com.

Via: ramblinwreck.com

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