Post-Game Notes: Georgia Tech 73, Duquesne 67

Dec. 29, 2015

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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

• Opening tap won by Duquesne. Tech has won the opening tap five times in 13 games this season.
• Georgia Tech starting lineup: Heath, Georges-Hunt, Smith, Mitchell, Jacobs
• First subs for Georgia Tech: Jorgenson and White at the 15:21 mark of the first half
• On the floor for Georgia Tech at the end: Georges-Hunt, Heath, Mitchell, Smith, Stephens
• Series record vs. Duquesne: Tech is 2-0 overall, 1-0 in Atlanta, 1-0 at McCamish Pavilion, 1-0 under Brian Gregory, 1-0 vs. Jim Ferry
• Current series streak: Georgia Tech won the last two meetings
• Georgia Tech is 8-1 at McCamish Pavilion this season, 37-22 in its fourth season in the building, 37-22 under Brian Gregory
• Georgia Tech’s next game: January 2, 2016 at #7 North Carolina, 12 p.m. ET, Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, N.C.

TEAM NOTES

• Georgia Tech went back to its original starting lineup against Duquesne, the same one it used for the first 10 games – Josh Heath, Marcus Georges-Hunt and Adam Smith at the guards, Charles Mitchell and Nick Jacobs at forward. The Yellow Jackets are 9-1 with that starting lineup.
• Tech completed its non-conference schedule with 10 wins for the second time in five seasons under Brian Gregory. The Yellow Jackets were 10-2 in the non-conference in 2012-13 and finished the season 16-15. Tech has won 10 or more games in the pre-conference schedule four times since the Final Four season of 2003-04.
• Tech’s first offensive rebound came at the 6:10 mark of the first half. The Yellow Jackets finished the game with seven offensive rebounds, a season low, and seven second-chance points, one off the season low of six against ETSU.
• Tech did assert itself on the boards after a slow start, however, gaining a final 44-39 advantage, marking the 10th time in 13 games the Yellow Jackets out-rebounded their opponent (one tie at Georgia). The Jackets have a plus-10.4 rebounding advantage for the season, having come into the game 14th in the nation and second in the ACC in that category.
• Tech trailed at the half for only the second time this season (36-35) after holding the lead for just 57 seconds and being tied for the first 55 second of the game. The Jackets trailed Villanova, 30-23, and lost that game, and were tied with VCU, 27-27, and won that game.
• Tech held Duquesne 15.8 points under its season average of 82.8 points per game. The Dukes were Tech’s third opponent to shoot under 40 percent in a game this season.
• Tech continued its recent success taking care of the ball, committing just seven turnovers in the game. It was the sixth time this season the Jackets have stayed under 10 and the third game in a row. Nationally, the Jackets have improved from 195^th in the nation last year to 30^th this year (10.6 per game).
• Tech assisted on 17 of its 24 field goals and improved its season assist average as a team to 15.0. The Jackets entered the game ranked 106^th nationally in that category after finishing the 2014-15 season 244^th.
• Tech went 8-for-18 from three-point range and improved its season success rate to 36.1 percent. Tech has made 35 percent or better in seven straight games. The Jackets entered the Duquesne game 128^th nationally in three-point percentage after ranking 343^rd last season.
• Tech exceeded 70 points for the sixth time in seven games and for the ninth time this season. Tech scored 70 or more only six times last season. The Yellow Jackets are 9-0 this season when scoring 70 points or more, 38-12 under Brian Gregory.
• Tech has averaged 68.5 offensive possessions this season compared to 63.1 last season. Its team offensive efficiency rating is 113.4 compared to 97.2 last season.
• Tech also has made improvements in points off turnovers (13.8 compared to 13.0 last season), second-chance points (15.8 to 12.7), points in the paint (32.8 to 32.2) and fast break points (10.5 to 8.3).
• Tech used 10 players in the game, and eight of them scored.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• In his first start since Dec. 19 at Georgia, Nick Jacobs reached double figures for the first time since that game, scoring 14 points and coming one rebound shy of a double-double. It was his seventh double-digit game this year, 33^rd of his career.
• Marcus Georges-Hunt scored 20 points and surpassed Michael Maddox (1,303), Tico Brown (1,308) and Alvin Jones (1,312) for 22^nd place on Tech’s all-time scoring list. Georges-Hunt now has 1,316 points in his career. Bobby Kimmel (1,362 points from 1954-57) holds 21^st place.
• Georges-Hunt reached double figures for the 10^th time in 13 games this season and for 73^rd time in 106 career games at Georgia Tech. It was his 12^th game of 20 or more points in his career, third this year. The 6-5 senior also matched his season high with six rebounds and had four assists.
• Adam Smith scored 17 points and reached double figures for the 10th time this season. He reached double-digits by canning threes on consecutive possessions that gave Tech a 60-56 lead. He has scored in double figures 57 times in his career.
• Smith knocked down four threes in the game, the third time in the last four games he has done that, and the sixth time he has hit four or more in a game this season. Smith has 18 threes in Tech’s last five games, and ranks third in the ACC in three-pointers per game (2.92) and seventh in percentage this season (now 43.7 percent).
• Smith has made at least one in every game this season and in his last 15 straight games dating back to last season. He has made at least one in 82 of 91 games in his career for a total of 202 after tonight.
• In 13 games, Smith has made more three-pointers (38) than Tech’s leader – Quinton Stephens with 32 – made all of last season, and the most since Trae Golden’s 46 in 2013-14.
• Charles Mitchell didn’t get a double-double but scored seven points with 10 rebounds. It was Mitchell’s 29^th career double-figure rebound game. He is averaging an ACC-leading 11.6 per game and ranked fifth in the nation entering the game.
• Josh Heath and Travis Jorgenson combined for seven assists and one turnover against Duquesne, continuing a trend this season in which they have 88 assists and 22 turnovers collectively, a ratio of 4.00-1. Tech has a 1.41-1 ratio as a team, fifth in the ACC. Heath himself ranks fifth in the ACC at 3.44-1.
• Ben Lammers put together one of his better games of the season with five points (3-4 FT, 1-1 FG), six rebounds and three blocked shots in 15 minutes. Lammers is one off the team lead in blocked shots with 14 despite averaging 14.1 minutes per game.