Dec. 20, 2008
MALIBU, Calif. (Courtesy of Pepperdine Athletics) – Alade Aminu had team highs of 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead Georgia Tech to an 86-58 victory over Pepperdine on Saturday afternoon at Firestone Fieldhouse.
The Yellow Jackets, playing just their second road game of the season and their first outside the state of Georgia, improved to 7-2. The Waves (1-11) lost their 11th straight game since a season-opening win against Cal State Monterey Bay.
Aminu led six Georgia Tech players that scored in double-figures, including all five starters. Iman Shumpert had 15 points, seven assists and three steals. Gani Lawal had his ACC-leading sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Mychel Thompson was Pepperdine’s only player to reach double-figures, as he scored a game-high 20 points. It was his second-highest total of the season and the third time that the sophomore has reached the 20-point plateau in his career.
Georgia Tech outshot the Waves 54.8 percent to 36.2 percent. The Yellow Jackets forced 20 turnovers and turned that into a 34-12 edge in points off turnovers.
Pepperdine took an 8-2 lead at the first media timeout as Thompson made a pair of three-pointers, but Aminu had seven points as Georgia Tech went on a 15-3 run over the next 4 ½ minutes to grab a 17-11 lead.
Shumpert later hit two three-pointers during an 8-0 run that increased the Yellow Jackets’ lead to 29-16 with 6 ½ minutes remaining in the first half. Georgia Tech went into the break with a 40-26 advantage.
The Yellow Jackets’ lead steadily grew in the second half. They took their first 20-point lead at 48-28 on a jumper by Zachery Peacock with 17:45 left, and another 8-0 run gave them a 59-35 lead with 13 minutes to go. Georgia Tech went up by 30 at 79-49 on Bassirou Dieng’s lay-up with 3:26 to play and its largest lead was 32 points at 81-49.
This was the second meeting between the two schools, with the first being a Yellow Jacket neutral-site victory in December 1983. Georgia Tech stays in the area to play at Southern California on Monday, while Pepperdine is next at the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii on Dec. 28-30. The Waves’ first game is against Buffalo.
