Georgia Tech Basketball Closes Non-Conference Slate vs. Yale

Jan. 5, 2018

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech continues a three-game homestand Saturday night by hosting Ivy League member Yale for its final non-conference game of the 2017-18 that tips off at 7 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion.

Complete Game Notes  | Watch online

The Yellow Jackets (7-7, 1-1 ACC), who had lost six of eight games, rebounded from a loss at Notre Dame Saturday by knocking off No. 15 Miami Wednesday night at McCamish Pavilion. Tech improved to 6-3 at home this season with the victory, 8-2 against the ACC under head coach . The Jackets are in their second season under Pastner, the 2017 ACC Coach of the Year, after going 21-16 and reaching the championship game of the NIT last season.

The Bulldogs (7-8, 0-0 Ivy League) have not played since last Saturday, when they captured an 89-74 win up the road at Kennesaw State. Yale’s game at Tech is its final non-conference game before hosting Brown next Friday (Jan. 12). The Bulldogs are 4-6 on the road this season, including trips to Creighton, Wisconsin and TCU.

Saturday’s game will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra, available through the ESPN app. Radio coverage is provided by the Georgia Tech IMG Sports Network and can be heard in Atlanta on flagship station 680 the Fan (680 AM/93.7 FM). The Tech broadcast can also be heard nationally on SiriusXM satellite radio (Sirius ch. 138, XM ch. 193).

THE STARTING LINEUP

• Georgia Tech plays two of its next three ACC games, and three of its next four overall, at home. The Yellow Jackets host Notre Dame next Wednesday to complete the season series with the Fighting Irish, visit Pittsburgh next Saturday, then host No. 8 Virginia on Jan. 18.

• Tech was projected to finish ninth in the ACC in the preseason voting by conference media. The Jackets finished 11th last season at 8-10.

• Tech has yet to play a game with its entire roster healthy and available. The Yellow Jackets played their first eight games without its leading scorer and ACC All-Freshman player from last season, . They played without senior guard for the first three games; without sophomore point guard for five games; and have been without freshman guard for the last five games. Tech players have missed 30 games to various injuries and other absences this season.

• Six Atlantic Coast Conference teams are currently ranked in the Associated Press poll – Duke (2), Virginia (8), North Carolina (13), Miami (15), Florida State (24) and Clemson (25). Notre Dame was a top 25 team until right before the holiday break, but still is receiving votes along with Syracuse and NC State. The Jackets have already faced UCLA (No. 21 in preseason) and Northwestern (No. 20 in preseason), as well as Tennessee, which is now No. 23.

• Head coach needs five victories to reach 200 for his head coaching career. In nine-plus seasons, Pastner has a record of 195-96.

SERIES VS. YALE

• Georgia Tech and Yale have met twice previously, both of them during the Whack Hyder era. The Bulldogs won both games.

• The teams’ most recent meeting was a 101-95 Yale victory in the Old Dominion Invitational on Dec. 28, 1973 at Norfolk, Va. The Bulldogs also squeezed out a 79-78 win at Alexander Memorial Coliseum on Jan. 2, 1968.

• Tech is 9-6 all-time against members of the Ivy League, most recently a 116-81 win over Cornell to open the 2015-16 season.

• Tech head coach is 1-0 as a head coach against Ivy League teams, having defeated Harvard while head coach at Memphis.

TEAM NOTES

• Georgia Tech is 8-2 against the ACC at McCamish Pavilion under head coach .

• Georgia Tech has won four games (4-1 record) against top-15 opponents at McCamish Pavilion under .

• Head coach has started the same lineup for both ACC games – , and across the perimeter, with and in the frontcourt. Pastner has used six different starting lineups this season.

• , and each played 39 minutes against Miami, and each played 40 minutes at Notre Dame (the first time that had happened since Jan. 30, 1991 vs. Duke). Lammers is averaging 35.8 minutes this season (sixth in the ACC), Okogie 36.3 and Alvarado 33.6 (11th in the ACC).

• Tech has averaged 69.7 points and converted 43.0 percent of their field goal attempts in the six games since ’s return.

• Tech continues to make life tough for opponents inside the three-point arc. The Jackets rank No. 12 nationally according to Kenpom.com in lowest two-point field goal percentage yield (now 42.6 percent after Miami converted 17-of-37).

• Tech has held eight opponents this season, including Notre Dame and Miami, under 40 percent from the floor, and have limited its two ACC opponents to 37.9 percent from the floor and 28.2 percent from three-point range. Miami entered the game fifth in the ACC at 49.1 percent. Tech ranks No. 58 in the nation in field goal percentage defense.

• Tech ranks 29th in the nation in scoring defense after holding Miami, who had averaged nearly 75 points per game, to just 54 points. It tied the Hurricane’s lowest output this season (54 in a loss to New Mexico State) and was the Yellow Jackets’ third-lowest yield (49 to North Texas, 51 to Northwestern).

• Tech forced 18 Miami turnovers, a season-high for the Hurricanes, and scored 21 points off those turnovers. The Yellow Jackets have forced an average of 13.7 turnovers per game this season, slightly down from the same point a year ago (14.3), but an improvement over last season as a whole (13.1).

• The Jackets have averaged 7.6 steals this year (4th in the ACC), one per game better than last season, and have 22 in their first two ACC games. Tech was credited with 13 steals against Miami, a season high for the Yellow Jackets and the most since getting 15 in last year’s ACC opener against North Carolina. Six different players had at least one steal against the Hurricanes.

• Tech has committed 12.6 turnovers per game this season, down from 14.3 at the same point (14 games) last season. Tech has just 24 in its last three games, 11 vs. Miami and seven at Notre Dame. Seven of Tech’s 11 against Miami were committed by one player (Alvarado).

• Tech has connected on just 16 threes in 67 attempts in its last five games against (3.2 per game and 23.9 percent). The Yellow Jackets had made 37.4 percent of its three-point field goals and averaged 6.0 per game (43-for-115) over the seven games prior to that.

• One game after netting no second-chance points at Notre Dame, the Yellow Jackets snared 10 offensive rebounds and scored 10 points from them against Miami.

• Tech rebounded from a poor game at the free throw line against Notre Dame (7-of-18) to hit 17-of-23 (73.9 percent) against Miami, improving its season conversion rate to 70.6 percent.

• Tech is among the NCAA leaders in percentage of points scored at the free throw line (23.6 percent, 16th).

• Pastner meter 1 (assists to made field goals): Tech assisted on just eight of 23 field goals made and 44 of 123 in its last three games (35.8 percent), falling short its nightly goal of 60 percent for the third straight game. The Jackets have assisted on 54 percent of their made field goals for the season, after finishing last season at 62.7 percent (63.2 percent rate in ACC games).

• Pastner meter 2 (free throws made to opponents’ attempts): Tech made 17-of-23 free throws to Miami’s 8-of-11 (goal of making more than opponent tries accomplished). For the season, Tech has converted 221 free throws, while opponents have attempted 222. Tech is 27-7 under when attempting more free throws than the opponent.

• Pastner meter 3 (guard rebounding): Tech’s guards combined for 14 of Tech’s 28 defensive rebounds against Miami and 28 of 53 in its two ACC games. Alvarado, Jackson and Okogie are all averaging well above four rebounds per game.

PLAYER NOTES

• has averaged 20.0 points per game in his six games back on the court, reaching double digits in every one, including a season-high 30 against Miami with a game-high nine rebounds. The 6-4 sophomore has hit 38.5 percent of his shots from three-point range and 77.6 percent from the free throw line. Okogie has scored in double figures 38 times in 43 career games. He has scored 30 or more three times (two vs. ACC), 20 or more 12 times, six times in an ACC game.

• In the five games against top-15 teams Tech has played at McCamish Pavilion in ’s career, the 6-4 guard has averaged 22.8 points.

• , making his second straight start and 10th of the season against Miami, earned career highs in points (5) and rebounds (7) in an ACC game, playing 24 minutes before fouling out. He added an assist and a steal.

• failed to reach double-figures in points for the first time this season, scoring just four points against Miami, but he had six rebounds, two assists, three steals and just one turnover in 28 minutes. The 6-2 senior has had 32 double-digit scoring games off the bench as a Yellow Jacket, 23 of those since the beginning of last season. The senior guard has reached double figures 19 times in his last 22 games and 33 times since the beginning of last season.

• Jackson is hitting 61.1 percent of his shots (58-of-95) from inside the three-point arc this season, 50.4 percent overall.

• blocked two shots against Miami to give him 218 blocks for his career, sitting in sole possession of fourth place in Tech history and needing 25 to catch John Salley (243 from 1982-86) for third place. Lammers is third in the ACC and 12th nationally in blocked shots per game (3.0).

• Lammers’ 77.8-percent clip from the free throw line is more than five percent better than his junior year (73.7 percent). Lammers was a combined 21-of-43 his first two seasons.

• Lammers snapped a streak of three straight games with a double-double (eight points, eight rebounds), but he had two assists, two blocked shots and three steals in 39 minutes. He has accumulated 21 double-doubles since the beginning of last season.

• After missing nearly the entire second half of the Coppin State game with a head injury, freshman point guard has played 79 minutes in Tech’s two ACC games, scoring 11 points at Notre Dame and 12 against Miami while hitting 9-of-17 shots from the floor.

• , who had started Tech’s last three games and eight this season, has six assists, one turnover and four steals in his first two ACC games.

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is in its second year under head coach . Tech has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won three ACC Championships (1985, 1990, 1993), played in the NCAA Tournament 16 times and played in two Final Fours (1990, 2004). Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball on social media by liking their , or following on and .

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