Men's Basketball Takes ACC Break, Hosts Florida Tech

GEORGIA TECH (10-16, 3-13 ACC) vs. FLORIDA TECH (16-10, 9-9 SSC)

• Saturday, February 18, 2023 | 2 p.m. ET | Atlanta, Ga. | McCamish Pavilion
• Live Stream Online:  ACC Network Extra  |  ESPN+
• Play-by-Play:  Wiley Ballard  |  Analyst: Jon Babul
• Radio:  Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports (In Atlanta: 680 AM/93.7 FM | SiriusXM ch. 392, SXM app 982 | Listen Online | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets App | TuneIn
• Play-by-Play: Andy Demetra  |  Analyst: Randy Waters

THE FLATS – Taking a break from Atlantic Coast Conference play but not taking the usual bye in the schedule, Georgia Tech closes out a week at home by hosting Division II Florida Tech at 2 p.m. Saturday at McCamish Pavilion.

Georgia Tech (10-16, 3-13 ACC) has won two of its last three games, taking down Virginia Tech at home Wednesday night, 77-70, a week after squeezing by Notre Dame, 70-68, also at home. In between, the Yellow Jackets lost by one point, 71-70, in the final seconds at Wake Forest. The recent strong play lifted Tech out of last place into 13th place in the ACC standings, ahead of Notre Dame and Louisville. The Jackets’ other conference win came Jan, 4 over Miami, the ACC’s current third-place team.

Florida Tech (16-10, 9-9 SSC) is a member of the Sunshine State Conference. After a 14-4 start to the season, the Panthers come to Atlanta having lost six of their last eight games, including the last three in a row, to fall into sixth place in the Sunshine State standings.

Saturday’s game will be streamed live online via ACC Network Extra, available on the ESPN app. Radio coverage is on the Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports and flagship station 680 the Fan (680 AM/93.7 FM), and on satellite radio (SiriusXM channel 392, SXM app 982).

THE TIP-OFF

• Following Saturday’s game, Georgia Tech finishes out the regular season by playing three of its final four games on the road, facing the current ACC leader, Pittsburgh, on Tuesday. After the Jackets’ final home game Saturday against last-place Louisville, they travel to eighth-place Syracuse and 10th-place Boston College in the final week.
• Panther trifecta – Florida Tech is the third team called the Panthers that Georgia Tech has faced this season (Georgia State and Pittsburgh are the others). Georgia Tech will face Pitt again next Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets have faced two teams called the Huskies (Northern Illinois, Northeastern).
• Georgia Tech and Florida Tech met in an exhibition game at McCamish Pavilion ahead of the 2018-19 season, defeating the Panthers, 87-36. The teams have one common opponent this season, Clayton State. whom the Jackets defeated, 93-63, to open the season. The Panthers defeated the Lakers, 74-63, on Dec. 19.
• Tech is No. 2 in the ACC in three-point defense and is 37th nationally, allowing 30.6 percent from distance.
• Tech is No. 2 in the ACC in bench scoring, its reserves contributing 19.5 points per game this season. The bench has provided 30 or more points six times this season, and has outscored its opponents’ reserves in 14 of 26 games.
• Tech has used 11 different starting lineups this season, and no Yellow Jacket has started every game. Nine Jackets have started at least two games, and eight of them have started a minimum of nine times.
• Since Lance Terry returned from his hamstring injury (last four games), Tech has averaged 70.3 points per game, connected on 43.6 percent of its shots from the floor and 40.7 percent (35-of-86) of its three-point attempts. In the four games he missed, Tech averaged 53.8 points, hit 34.5 percent of its field goals and 25.2 percent of its threes.
• Five Tech players are averaging double digits in points over the Yellow Jackets’ last four games (Ja’von Franklin 14.0, Terry 12.8, Deebo Coleman 11.5, Miles Kelly 11.3, Kyle Sturdivant 10.0).
• Tech has scored 70 points or more in three straight games (Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech), a threshold the Yellow Jackets had reached just twice (Miami, first meeting vs. Notre Dame) in their first 13 conference games.

Ja’von Franklin has five double-doubles this season. (photo by Eldon Lindsay)

LAST TIME VS. FLORIDA TECH

November 3, 2018 – Sophomore forward Evan Cole finished with a double-double behind 16 points and 10 rebounds as Georgia Tech dominated Florida Tech in an 87-36 rout in exhibition play Saturday night. A total of 14 different Yellow Jackets took the floor in Georgia Tech’s first unofficial outing of the 2018-19 season.

In the first meeting between the opponents, the Panthers and Yellow Jackets kept it close in the early going. The teams stood tied at 14-apiece at the 8:20 mark of the first half before Georgia Tech began to pull away. Hitting a triple at 5:57, sophomore guard Curtis Haywood pushed Georgia Tech in front by double-digits for the first time as the Jackets took a 25-14 edge. Senior forward Abdoulaye Gueye, who finished with eight points, sparked a 9-1 run that closed the first half and sent the Yellow Jackets into the locker room comfortably ahead, 36-17.

Georgia Tech outscored Florida Tech 51-19 in the second half and grabbed its largest lead of 54 points off a free throw from Malachi Rice late in the period.

Making their first public appearances, a pair of freshmen put together solid stat lines as Kristian Sjolund finished with 10 points, including a pair of threes, and three rebounds in 17 minutes, while classmate Khalid Moore posted eight points and three rebounds. Jose Alvarado was the third Jacket to finish in double-figures on the night, scoring 12 points with seven rebounds and four assists, while Sylvester Ogbonda pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds.

The Panthers were held to a 25.2 percent shooting efficiency and committed 26 turnovers on the evening, while the Jackets shot 43.6 percent from the field. Georgia Tech won the battle on the glass, 57-33.

TEAM TRENDS

• After slipping below 100 points per 100 possessions (KenPom offensive efficiency rating) in nine straight games, all losses, Tech has been above 100 points per 100 possessions in each of its last three games (Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech), two of which the Jackets won and the other they lost by one point.
• Tech’s 77 points scored against Virginia Tech was its high for the season in an ACC game by one point over the Yellow Jackets’ 76-70 win against Miami.
• Tech has scored 70 points or more in three straight games (Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech), a threshold the Yellow Jackets had reached just twice (Miami, first meeting vs. Notre Dame) in their first 13 conference games.
• Tech is 8-2 this season when scoring 70 or more points (3-2 in the ACC), 2-14 when failing to reach 70.
• Tech’s last five ACC games have been decided by a total of 28 points. The Jackets’ first 11 ACC games were decided by an average of 15.4 points.
• Tech has outshot three of its last four opponents from the floor, holding them collectively to 42 percent overall, 30 percent from three-point range. The Yellow Jackets are 9-1 this season when they have a higher field goal percentage.
• Tech limited Virginia Tech to under 100 points/100 possessions, the first time the Jackets had done so in 10 games dating back to Jan. 10 at Notre Dame.
• Tech has made 10 or more three-pointers in three games this season – 13 vs. Alabama State, 12 vs. Pittsburgh and 11 vs. Virginia Tech.
• Tech went 14-of-26 from the free throw line to Virginia Tech’s 4-of-8, the first time since Jan. 7 at Florida State, a span of 11 games, that the Yellow Jackets attempted more free throws than an opponent.
• Tech’s seven-player rotation was its shortest of the season, in part due to the absence of point guard Deivon Smith (ankle). Tech had not utilized fewer than eight players in any game before Virginia Tech, and has deployed nine or more in 17 games this season.
• Since Lance Terry returned from his hamstring injury (last four games), Tech has averaged 70.3 points per game, connected on 43.6 percent of its shots from the floor and 40.7 percent (35-of-86) of its three-point attempts. In the four games he missed, Tech averaged 53.8 points, hit 34.5 percent of its field goals and 25.2 percent of its threes.
• Five Tech players are averaging double digits in points over the Yellow Jackets’ last four games (Franklin 14.0, Terry 12.8, Coleman 11.5, Kelly 11.3, Sturdivant 10.0).
• Tech has averaged 23.7 three-point attempts in ACC games (6th-most in the ACC), trying at least 20 in every game except Virginia (16) and Wake Forest (19).
• Tech has turned the ball over fewer an average of 11.1 times over its last 10 games, but has forced only 9.7 per game across the game stretch.
• Tech has outrebounded each of its last four opponents, doing so by an average of 3.5 per game.

PLAYER UPDATES

• Deebo Coleman scored a career-high of 21 points against Virginia Tech, beating by four his previous season high and career ACC high – 17 vs. Syracuse on Jan. 21 – and by two his previous career best for high all games – 19 vs. Lamar, Nov. 19, 2021, the second game of his college career.
• Tech has had only five 20-point games this season – Lance Terry’s 24 vs. Miami and Miles Kelly three times (21 at Iowa, 20 each vs. Virginia and Miami), besides Coleman’s game against Virginia Tech.
• In four games since returning from his hamstring injury, which kept him out of four games, Lance Terry has averaged 12.8 points, hit 19-of-38 shots from the floor (50 pct.) and 7-of-16 from three-point range (43.8 pct.).
• Terry has played the full 40 minutes three times – Miami on Jan. 4, Notre Dame on Feb. 8 and Wednesday against Virginia Tech – all games Tech has won. Two of those occurred after his return from injury.
• Ja’von Franklin has averaged a double-double over the Yellow Jackets’ last four games (14.0 points and 10.5 rebounds). He has hit 55.8 percent of his shots from the floor (24-of-43) in that span, and also has totaled a team-high 13 assists and 11 blocked shots.
• Franklin has posted double-doubles in each of Tech’s last two games (14 pts/15 rebs at Wake Forest, 10 pts/10 rebs vs. Virginia Tech), and has five for the season, three in conference games.
• Kyle Sturdivant has averaged 11.4 points over his last five games, having reached double figures in four of them (17 at Louisville, 13 at NC State, 12 vs. Notre Dame, 10 vs. Virginia Tech). He has made 11-of-26 from three-point range over that stretch.
• Miles Kelly’s 15 points against Virginia Tech were his most in three games and just his fourth double-digit scoring game in the last 10. Kelly remains the Yellow Jackets’ leading scorer in all games (12.8 ppg) and in ACC games (12.6).
• Deivon Smith has posted four double-digit scoring games in his last nine after tallying 15 at Wake Forest, averaging 9.2 points over that stretch. He also has 13 games of five or more rebounds after taking five against the Demon Deacons.
• Smith is one of 12 ACC players to have a 20-percent defensive rebound rate, according to KenPom. At 6-foot-1, Smith is the shortest of the 12 by six inches and is the only guard.
• With three more points, Terry will reach 800 points in his college career, the most career points for any current Yellow Jacket. Franklin is next with 629, followed by Sturdivant with 565. Smith crossed 500 points in his last game

Lance Terry has averaged 12.8 points in his four games back from injury. (photo by Eldon Lindsay)

Alexander-Tharpe Fund

The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL

Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team has completed six seasons under head coach Josh Pastner, winning the Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 2021 and making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 11 years. Tech has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won four ACC Championships (1985, 1990, 1993, 2021), played in the NCAA Tournament 17 times and played in two Final Fours (1990, 2004). Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball on social media by liking their Facebook Page, or following on Twitter (@GTMBB) and Instagram. For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com.