Dec. 27, 2007
ATLANTA (AP) – Jeremis Smith matched a season-high with 16 points and Gani Lawal added 13 points and eight rebounds as the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets routed Tennessee Tech 83-63 Thursday night.
It was the second consecutive blowout for Georgia Tech (6-5), who beat Centenary 86-41 on Sunday night.
Smith scored 12 of his points in the first half on 5-of-6 shooting and finished 7-of-10. Lawal scored 10 of his points in the second half and hit 5-of-6 shots overall.
Georgia Tech’s Lewis Clinch added 11 points and Zack Peacock had 10.
Anthony Fisher, the Golden Eagles’ (4-9) top scorer, had 23 points an Amadi McKenzie added 16 points and 11 rebounds for Tennessee Tech.
Georgia Tech’s biggest lead was 28 points at 65-37 on a 3-point basket by Matt Causey with 8:38 left to play.
The Yellow Jackets led 40-19 at the half on a 3-point basket with 24 seconds left by Anthony Morrow, their leading scorer. It was their biggest lead of the first 20 minutes. Tech was 0-for-10, including 0-for-4 by Morrow on 3’s before the bucket.
Morrow wound up with seven points and was 1-of-8 from the field, including 1-of-5 3-shot attempts. The Yellow Jackets made only 2-of-16 3’s.
Meanwhile, Tennessee Tech made only 6-of-22 shots (27.3 percent) and missed all six 3-point attempts in the opening half. Tech’s pressing defense added to the Golden Eagles troubles with 16 turnovers leading to 21 points for the Yellow Jackets.
Tennessee Tech wound up with 27 turnovers and made 2-of-11 3’s, both by Fisher.
Tech led 7-0 just over three minutes into the game and the Golden Eagles missed their first nine shots before Anthony Fisher got their first basket after 5:08.
The Yellow Jackets will host Florida State on Sunday, their Atlantic Coast Conference opener.
