Feb. 15, 2015
Gregory post-game from FSU | Complete Game Notes | WatchESPN link
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech finishes off the second of its three straight Saturday-Monday basketball weekends Monday night, playing the second of two straight home games against Clemson at 7 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion.
Tech, in its fourth season under head coach Brian Gregory, slipped to 11-14 overall and 2-11 in the ACC Saturday with another last-minute loss, 57-53, to Florida State. The Yellow Jackets have lost 10 of their ACC games by a total of 38 points.
Clemson (15-10, 7-6 ACC), in its fifth season under head coach Brad Brownell is coming off a 75-54 home win over Virginia Tech on Saturday. The win snapped a brief two-game skid for the Tigers, who have won four of their last six and are 3-4 on the road this season in the ACC.
Monday’s game will be televised nationally on ESPNU and will be streamed live on the WatchESPN app. The Georgia Tech IMG Radio Network, with flagship station WCNN (680 AM/93.7 FM) will also carry the game. Tech’s radio coverage can be heard on satellite radio nationally (Sirius Ch. 93, XM Ch. 193).
Tech returns to action Saturday with a game at No. 12 North Carolina at 12 noon in Chapel Hill.
STARTING FIVE FOR MONDAY’S GAME
• Monday’s game is the back end in the second of three consecutive Saturday-Monday turnarounds for the Yellow Jackets. Both of this weekend’s games are at home, with tonight’s game preceded by Saturday’s game against Florida State. Next weekend, Tech visits North Carolina Saturday and hosts Louisville Monday.
• Tech’s strength of schedule is ranked No. 26 in ESPN’s RPI rankings, and its non-conference strength of schedule is ranked No. 65.
• Tech ranks 13th nationally in rebound margin (+7.8), 10th in offensive rebounds per game (14.1).
• Virginia defeated Tech by 29 points, but the Yellow Jackets’ other 10 conference defeats have come by a total of 38 points (3.8 points per game), two of those in overtime. Tech has lost twice by one point, twice by two points, once by three, once by four, once by five, once by six and twice by seven. The seven-point loss at Notre Dame was a double-overtime defeat. Nine of those defeats have been one- or two-possession games at the 1-minute mark.
• Tech has a minus-0.78 “Luck” rating, KenPom.com’s measure of a team’s number of close games and its success in them. The Jackets rank No. 322 in that category, or to look at it another way, the 34th unluckiest team in the country.
HE SAID IT…
From FSU coach Leonard Hamilton’s post-game remarks Saturday following Tech’s 57-53 loss…
“I’ve been in situations like Brian (Gregory); his team has just played so well. I watched all those films and you lose 10 games by maybe a total of 40 points; then you lose six games by a total of 12 points it has a tendency to wear on you. I’ve been where he is. His team is playing great defense. They are out-rebounding people extremely well. Sometimes you get to the end like today and the ball just doesn’t bounce your away. We were very fortunate to get away with a victory today, in what I call an `ACC Blowout’.
“They had us very well scouted. We could never get into a real good flow. We were sputtering the entire game. I just kept changing schemes, and going from one system to another. We’d get a basket or two, but they did a very good job in their preparation, and we could never get in sync offensively. We were not getting back on defense, and we just kind of hung on for dear life there at the end.”
SERIES NOTES VS. CLEMSON
• This is the oldest and longest-running series the Yellow Jackets have with an ACC member. The 125 all-time meetings are 32 more than Tech has played with any other ACC opponent. The series dates back to the 1912-13 season, when John Heisman coached the Tech basketball team.
• Clemson is one of two permanent home-and-away opponents on Tech’s schedule each year (Notre Dame is the other).
• Clemson has won 16 of the last 19 meetings in the series, including the last 10 in a row. The Yellow Jackets trail 43-31 to the Tigers since joining the ACC.
• The Tigers swept the 2013-14 regular-season meetings with Tech, winning, 45-41, on Feb. 4 in Clemson and 63-55 on Feb. 22 in Atlanta, then completed the trifecta by defeating Tech, 69-65, in overtime at the ACC Tournament.
• Tech has an all-time record of 40-24 against the Tigers at home, including 27-15 record at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The Jackets have won 21 of 31 against the Tigers at home since 1983.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is beginning its fourth 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 (@GTMBK).
For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com. Tickets for men’s basketball can be purchased here.
