February 17, 2018

Post-Game Notes (Game 27)

Feb. 17, 2018

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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Georgia Tech starting lineup: Jackson, Okogie, Cole, Gueye, Lammers
First subs for Georgia Tech: Alston, Wright, Ogbonda for Okogie, Cole, Gueye – 13:09, 1^st half
On the floor for Georgia Tech at the end: Alston, Gueye, Ogbonda, Rice, Wright
Opening tap won by Virginia Tech. Georgia Tech has won the opening tap 10 times in 27 games this season
Series record vs. Virginia Tech: Georgia Tech is 6-17 overall, 3-6 at home, 5-13 as ACC members, 0-1 under Josh Pastner, 0-3 vs. Buzz Williams
Current series streak: Virginia Tech won the last three meetings
Georgia Tech is 10-6 at McCamish Pavilion this season, 70-36 in its sixth season in the building, 27-10 under Josh Pastner
Georgia Tech is 1-8 on the road this season, 1-9 away from McCamish Pavilion
Georgia Tech’s next game: Feb. 21 at Virginia, 7 p.m. [ESPN2]

TEAM NOTES

Georgia Tech started Tadric Jackson and Evan Cole along with Josh Okogie, Abdoulaye Gueye and Ben Lammers for the second straight game in the wake of the loss of freshman point guard Jose Alvarado. That has been the seventh different lineup this season for the Yellow Jackets. Head coach Josh Pastner had started the same lineup for the 13 games prior.
Tech has had its full roster to practice only for seven games and played a solid 7-man rotation for the first time in ACC play against Notre Dame Jan. 10. Injuries or other absences have forced Tech players to miss 42 games cumulatively this season. Tech does not have its full rotation for the rest of the season with freshman Curtis Haywood II sidelined for the remainder of the season with a stress reaction in his right leg.
Ben Lammers is the only Tech player to start every game this season, and has started Tech’s last 64 consecutive games.
Tech’s playing rotation this season features four freshmen and a first-year graduate transfer who have combined to start 58 games and log 44 percent of the Yellow Jackets’ total minutes.
Pastner remains one victory shy of 200 for his head coaching career (199-104).
Tech connected on nine of its first 13 shots in the game, 11-for-42 after that for 36.2 percent for the game.
Tech grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and converted them into a season-high 17 second-chance points against Virginia Tech, and its 15 points off the Hokies’ 13 turnovers were its second most in ACC play (17 at Pittsburgh).
Tech has attempted more three-point field goals than its 25 against Virginia Tech twice this season – 27 vs. Duke and Grambling State. The Jackets are 5-for-34 in their last two games.
Tech hit just one three-point field goal in nine attempts against Wake Forest, matching a season low of one three against Bethune-Cookman and Miami, both of whom the Yellow Jackets defeated.
In the month of February (since its last victory on Jan 31 over Syracuse), Tech has allowed an average of 78.4 points per game. 47.9 percent from the floor. Tech’s February opponents have made an average of 9.4 threes per game and shot 51.1 percent from distance. Tech also has turned the ball over 13.8 times per game and forced just 10.4.

PASTNER’S KEY METRICS

Assists to made field goals: Tech assisted on nine of 20 made field goals (45 percent) against Virginia Tech, below its nightly goal of 60 percent. The Jackets have assisted on 53.8 percent of their made field goals for the season (52.1 percent vs. the ACC), after finishing last season at 62.7 percent (63.2 percent rate in ACC games).
Free throws made to opponents’ attempts: Tech and Virginia Tech each connected on 12-of-19 free throw attempts (nightly goal of making more than opponent tries not accomplished). For the season, Tech has converted 383 free throws, while opponents have attempted 455. Tech is 29-9 under Josh Pastner when attempting more free throws than the opponent.
Turnovers: Tech has committed 12.9 turnovers per game this season, down slightly from last season (13.4), and 12.8 in ACC games, down from 13.3 last season. Pastner’s threshold to win is nine or fewer, which the Jackets have accomplished five times this season, three times in conference play.
Guard rebounding: Tech’s guards combined for three of Tech’s 16 defensive rebounds against Virginia Tech. Tadric Jackson, Jose Alvarado and Josh Okogie are all averaging 3.7 rebounds per game or higher this season.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Tadric Jackson reached double figures for the first time since Feb. 4 at Boston College, scoring 17 points against Virginia Tech. He hit his first four shots from the floor, including a trio of threes, and scored 13 of his points in the first half. The 6-2 senior has scored in double figures 16 times in 24 games this season.
Jackson, who became the 44^th player in Tech history to reach 1,000 career points on Jan. 31 vs. Syracuse, now has 1,045).
Sophomore center Sylvester Ogbonda saw his most extensive playing time this season, logging 10 minutes and scoring seven points (3-3 FG) with four rebounds and a blocked shot. The 6-10 red-shirt sophomore played more minutes only twice last season, 14 minutes each in back-to-back games against Wake Forest and Tusculum.
Josh Okogie has scored in double figures in his last nine games (19.5 ppg) after having a 25-game streak of double-digit games snapped against Virginia (nine points).
The sophomore guard has scored in double figures 50 times in 56 career games. He has scored 30 or more three times (two vs. ACC), 20 or more 18 times (11 times in an ACC game).
Okogie has averaged 18.6 points per game after missing the first eight games of the season, including 18.6 in ACC games so far (fourth-best in league rankings). He averaged 16.1 points as a freshman, 17.1 against the ACC.
Okogie has scored more points in his first two seasons at Tech (950) since Matt Harpring accumulated 1,021 by the end of his sophomore season (1996-98). At his present rate, Okogie can become the sixth Tech player to reach 1,000 career points by the end of his sophomore season.
Despite missing eight games, Okogie leads the Jackets in free throw attempts with 138, an average of 7.3 per game that leads the ACC (6.8 per game vs. ACC teams). He is also one of the ACC’s top free throw shooters by percentage at 82.4 percent. He averaged 6.5 as a freshman, which ranked third in the ACC, and connected on 74.7 percent.
Okogie is averaging 6.7 rebounds per game in ACC play, third best among league guards, and 6.2 for the season. Okogie has snared 65 rebounds in his last nine games (7.9).
Okogie has 36 assists in his last 12 games, a 3.0 average, and has matched his career high of five twice (second meeting vs. Notre Dame and at Florida State) in that stretch.
Abdoulaye Gueye is averaging 8.1 points (52.2 percent from the floor) and 5.6 rebounds against the ACC with 20 blocked shots. He averaged 4.8 points (36.7 pct. FG) and 4.0 rebounds in the non-conference season.
Gueye has scored 127 points in the 15 games since sitting out Coppin State on Dec. 27. He had scored 70 points in 39 career games prior to Coppin State.
Ben Lammers surpassed 700 career rebounds against Syracuse and now has 741, moving into 12^th place on Georgia Tech’s all-time list with three boards against Virginia Tech. He needs three to catch Bruce Dalrymple (744 from 1983-87) for 11^th place.
Lammers blocked two shots against Virginia Tech, giving him 243 blocks for his career and a tie for third place in Tech history with John Salley (243 from 1982-86). Daniel Miller (286 from 2011-14) holds second place.
Lammers also is drifting ever closer to 1,000 points for his career. With 978 career points, and needs two games at his current 11.0 per game rate to reach 1,000.
Lammers played just 29 minutes against Virginia Tech, his fewest this season and fewest since logging 22 against Tusculum last February. The 6-10 senior is averaging 36.1 minutes this season, sixth-most in the ACC (36.9 mpg vs. the ACC), and ranks No. 1 among centers nationally in average minutes played and percentage of possible minutes. Okogie is averaging 36.7 minutes in ACC games. Both players rank among the ACC’s top 10 in minutes per conference game.
Freshman forward Evan Cole has averaged 25.3 minutes, 7.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in his last three games, which includes starts against Wake Forest and Virginia Tech. The 6-8 rookie has hit 8-of-14 shots from the floor, including one three-pointer in each game (3-of-7).
Moses Wright, another freshman, matched his season best with eight rebounds to go with seven points in a season-high 28 minutes against Virginia Tech.