Feb. 16, 2016
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech (13-12, 3-9 ACC) continues the back half of its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule with its seventh road game, visiting Florida State (16-9, 6-7 ACC) for a 9 p.m. game Wednesday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee.
Complete Game Notes | Where to Watch | Watch live online | Coach Gregory on ACC Teleconference
Tech is coming off a 66-52 loss at Clemson Saturday, its first by double digits in conference play this season and only the third overall. Tech’s ACC wins this season have come by an average of 5.6 points, while its ACC losses have come by a total of 60 points, an average of 6.7 points per game. The Yellow Jackets are 1-5 on the road in ACC games this season.
Florida State has lost its last two games, a 67-65 loss at home Sunday night to No. 12 Miami and a 75-62 defeat at Syracuse last week. The Seminoles are 1-5 against the top-25 teams they have played, and are 3-3 at home in conference play.
Wednesday’s game will be televised regionally on the ACC Network (WATL-TV in Atlanta) and will be streamed live on ESPN3. Radio coverage of the game is provided by the Georgia Tech/IMG Sports Network, and can be heard in Atlanta on 680 the Fan (680 AM and 93.7 FM). The game can also be heard nationally on satellite radio (Sirius ch. 81, XM ch. 81).
TRANSITION POINTS
• Wednesday’s game is the only scheduled meeting between Tech and Florida State in the regular season. The Yellow Jackets and Seminoles have not played each other twice in a season since 2009-10, and will face each other only once in 2016-17 and 2017-18, according to the schedule rotation announced Friday by the ACC. Tech has played everyone in the ACC twice at least once in head coach Brian Gregory’s term with the Yellow Jackets, including Louisville and Pittsburgh for the first time this year, and will get Syracuse home-and-away for the first time in 2016-17.
• Tech has lost its last 10 meetings with Florida State, and its last four trips to Tallahassee. The Yellow Jackets last defeated the Seminoles on Feb. 13, 2007 in Tallahassee.
• Tech’s 12 ACC games have been decided by an average of 8.3 points, only one by double digits (66-52 at Clemson).
• Tech’s overall strength of schedule is the 21st strongest in the CBSSports.com RPI rankings. The Jackets’ non-conference schedule strength is rated No. 99.
• Dating back to the 2014 ACC Tournament, 22 of Tech’s 26 losses to ACC teams in that period have been decided by nine points or fewer.
• Tech has a minus-0.58 “Luck” rating, KenPom.com’s measure of a team’s number of close games and its success in them. The Jackets rank No. 303 in that category, or to look at it another way, the 48th unluckiest team in the country. Tech was No. 323 out of 354 last year.
• According to KenPom.com, Tech has the ninth most experienced roster in the nation, with an average number of years experience at 2.37.
• Still relentless on the boards – Tech is out-rebounding its opponents by 7.0 per game, which ranks 36th in the nation and No. 4 in the ACC. Tech has out-rebounded 20 of 25 opponents this season with two ties. Tech is No. 4 in the ACC and 17th nationally in offensive rebounds per game (13.6).
• Turnovers down – Tech is averaging 10.4 turnovers this season (4th in the ACC, 16th NCAA), down 2.3 per game (12.7) from last season. Tech has averaged 10.3 turnovers in ACC play, the fourth-lowest figure among the 15 teams.
• Scoring up – Tech is averaging 74.4 points per game, more than 10 points per game higher than a year ago. The Yellow Jackets have scored 70.9 per ACC game, also 10 points per game better than last year’s average.
• Outside threat – Tech’s 34.6-percent success rate from three-point range is up eight percent over last year. The Yellow Jackets have hit 32.8 percent against the ACC.
• Tech has shot 70.6 percent from the free throw line this year, its best figure since the 1994-95 season. The Jackets are converting 70.1 percent in ACC games, best since 2006-07.
• However, Tech has been outscored from the free throw line 10 times in 12 ACC games, and by a total of 222-155. In the second half of those games, the difference is 156-89. Only at NC State did the Yellow Jackets have the advantage (29-19), and they tied with Wake Forest (13-13).
• Four Georgia Tech players are averaging in double digits – Marcus Georges-Hunt (16.1 ppg), Adam Smith (13.9), Nick Jacobs (11.1) and Charles Mitchell (10.9). Tech has not finished a season with four or more players averaging in double figures since 2008-09.
• Tech has used six different starting lineups this season. Marcus Georges-Hunt is the only Jacket to start every game.
• In ACC games, Marcus Georges-Hunt is averaging 17.8 points per game (6th in the ACC) and Adam Smith 14.8 (17th).
• Georges-Hunt ranks eighth in the ACC in free throw percentage (81.9) and third in free throw attempts per game (6.6). Only Cat Barber of NC State, Grayson Allen of Duke and Michael Young of Pittsburgh also rank in the top 10 in both categories.
• Nick Jacobs has scored in double figures in eight of Tech’s last 10 games, averaging 13.1 points (51.9 pct. FG, 21-of-27 FT) and 5.6 rebounds over that stretch.
• Charles Mitchell has recorded double-doubles in each of his last two games (13th and 14th of the season). He is bidding to become the first Tech player to average in double digits in points and rebounds since Alvin Jones in 2000-01. Only Jones and Malcolm Mackey (1991-92 and 1992-93) have done so since Tech joined the ACC.
• After a one-game drop to second, Mitchell is back in the ACC lead in rebound average (10.7 rpg) following his 15-rebound effort against Wake Forest and career-high 19 at Clemson. He ranks No. 2 in offensive rebounds (3.95 per game). Mitchell ranks 14th in the nation in rebound average and 10th in offensive rebounds.
• Mitchell has a chance to reach 1,000 career points and 900 career rebounds in the same game Tuesday night. He needs six points (has 994) and eight rebounds (has 892).
• Adam Smith leads the ACC in three-point field goals made (2.96 per game, 32nd in NCAA) and ranks seventh in percentage (40.8). He has averaged 2.92 three-pointers in ACC games and has made 38.0 percent of his tries.
• In 25 games, Smith has made more three-pointers (73) than Tech’s leader in each of the past seven seasons and the most for any Tech player since 2007-08.
ON THE THRESHOLD OF 1,000
Georgia Tech already has two career 1,000-point scorers on its roster, and could soon have two more.
Senior post players Charles Mitchell and Nick Jacobs are both getting close. Mitchell, who enters Wednesday’s game with 994 career points (576 at Tech), could reach the mark against Florida State. Jacobs’ recent string of double-digit games (eight in the last 10) has him within reach as well, with 957 points after Saturday’s game at Clemson.
Marcus Georges-Hunt, who moved into 16th place on the Yellow Jackets’ all-time list against Wake Forest, has 1,529 career points, and Adam Smith, who began the season over the 1,000 plateau, now has 1,369.
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH FLORIDA STATE
• Florida State has won the last 10 games in the series, including a 57-53 win in the teams’ only regular-season meeting in 2014-15.
• Georgia Tech’s last win over the Seminoles occurred in Tallahassee on Feb. 13, 2007 by a score of 63-57.
• Tech won five of six from the Seminoles prior to the current eight-game FSU streak.
• The last two meetings in Tallahassee are the only ones of the eight games to be decided by double digits. The other eight were decided by an average of 4.1 points.
• Going back to the teams’ March 6, 2004 meeting, 10 of the 16 games have been decided by four or fewer points.
• The scores of 10 of the last 11 games, dating back to the last Tech win, have been in the 50s or the 60s, with the exception of FSU’s 72-66 win on Feb. 10. 2011 in Atlanta and last year’s game. Tech has scored more than 66 points against FSU only once.
• Since FSU joined the ACC, Tech is 17-25 against the Seminoles. Florida State won the first six in a row, Tech followed by winning five straight, and is 12-19 against the Seminoles since then.
• In those 42 games, 21 have been decided by four points or less, 31 by fewer than 10 points. One of those games went to double-overtime, which the Yellow Jackets won 111-108 on Feb. 11, 1999 in Tallahassee.
• Tech is 6-13 against Seminoles teams led by head coach Leonard Hamilton. Tech is 7-13 against Hamilton overall, with a victory over his Miami team in December of 1997.
• Tech is 10-20 in games played in Tallahassee, including a 7-12 mark at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, formerly known as the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center.
• Tech and Florida State were both members of the old Metro Conference from 1976-78, and the Seminoles won three of those four meetings.
TECH PLAYERS VS. FLORIDA STATE
Marcus Georges-Hunt scored 17 points in last year’s loss to Florida State at McCamish Pavilion and has averaged 11.0 points in three career opportunities against the Seminoles. He scored eight in each of Tech’s games against FSU his freshman and sophomore years. The Tech senior is 13-of-28 from the floor and 3-of-8 from three-point range.
Charles Mitchell scored eight points for Tech in last year’s game against Florida State. He averaged 5.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in four meetings while at Maryland.
Quinton Stephens has scored five points in each of his two games against Florida State, hitting 4-of-10 shots from the floor.
Travis Jorgenson was the only other current Tech player to scratch in the scoring column against the Seminoles a year ago (four points).
Adam Smith scored 24 and 19 points in two meetings against FSU last season while at Virginia Tech, hitting 8-of-16 shots from three-point range combined, 14-of-32 overall.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is beginning its fifth year under head coach Brian Gregory. The Yellow Jackets have 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 Facebook Page, or following on Twitter (@GTMBB).
For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com. Tickets for men’s basketball can be purchased here.
