By Andy Demetra | Voice of the Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech’s red-hot shooting, fittingly, hit a deep freeze at Syracuse.
With temperatures hovering around 15 degrees and snow blowing throughout the day in Central New York, the Yellow Jackets’ shooting mirrored the conditions outside, cratering to 36% in a loss to the Orange at the JMA Wireless Dome.
Damon Stoudamire can accept misses if they’re quality shots. That’s basketball. But what galled him more were the Yellow Jackets’ eight assists on 24 field goals, a steep drop-off in the assist rate that propelled them to 56 percent shooting during their three-game win streak.
“I didn’t think we shared the ball, and to me, that’s who we’ve got to be,” Stoudamire said afterwards. “We did too much dribbling. We reverted back. It’s as simple as that.”
Georgia Tech (8-8, 2-3 ACC) will now try to break its thaw in another place that was frozen upon their arrival: Dallas, Texas, where a winter storm forced Tech to move up its travel by a day. The Yellow Jackets flew to College Station, Texas, three hours south of Dallas, before busing to SMU early Friday afternoon.
So much for Syracuse being the weather outlier.
Will the Syracuse game prove an outlier as well? Enjoy the top notes from my chart as Tech and SMU (11-4, 2-2 ACC) gear up for their inaugural ACC matchup at Moody Coliseum (4 p.m. ET, Georgia Tech Sports Network):
Lance Terry (0) was 3-for-8 on threes at Syracuse, while the rest of the team was 1-for-13. (photo by Danny Karnik)
The Yellow Jackets may need to recapture their scoring form quickly.
The Mustangs, now led by former Southern Cal head coach Andy Enfield, rank second in the ACC in both scoring (82.4 ppg) and three-point percentage (37.1%). SMU’s shooting hit a snag against Duke and North Carolina, averaging just 33.8% in a pair of losses, but a return home can always energize a slumping team.
A pair of rerouted ACC players lead the Mustangs in 6-0 wisp Boopie Miller (15.3 ppg, 5.9 apg), a starter for Wake Forest last season, and 6-7 forward Matt Cross (10.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg), who had stops at Miami and Louisville before an All-Atlantic 10 stint at UMass. He’s a physical, mismatch-seeking wolf with range out to the three-point line (you may remember he had 17 points and 9 rebounds against Tech in the Diamond Head Classic last December).
Between Miller, Cross, and guards Chuck Harris, B.J. Edwards and Kario Oquendo, SMU is well-stocked with players who can get downhill and make teams pay for over-rotating. The Mustangs also lead the ACC in rebounding margin and are statistically the best offensive rebounding team the Jackets have faced.
SMU – NCAA Ranks
- Offensive Efficiency: #28 NCAA
- Offensive Rebounding %: #10 NCAA
In addition to a parade of attack-minded guards, the Mustangs have 6-11 Yohan Traore and 7-2 Samet Yigitoglu who lurk for lobs, drop-offs and deep post catches. Tech will need to play with high, active hands and stay “gapped up” when defending SMU in the halfcourt. The Jackets were outrebounded -13 and allowed 10 second chance points in the second half to Syracuse after holding SU scoreless in that category in the first half. How well can the Jackets moderate the Mustangs’ ability to get extra possessions on Saturday?
After a 3-of-11 free throw shooting night against Syracuse, perhaps Tech can draw some karma from a free throw mark they set against SMU.
Georgia Tech and SMU last played on December 21, 1986 at the old Suntory Ball in Tokyo, Japan. The Yellow Jackets went 13-of-13 at the free throw line against the Mustangs in a 63-54 win. It remains their most made free throws in a game without a miss in the last 38 years.
SMU may have one of the biggest gaps between its two-point defense and three-point defense of any team in the country.
| Category | Percentage | NCAA Rank |
| 2pt. FG% defense | 44.50% | #20 |
| 3pt. FG% defense | 35.40% | #275 |
Much of that has to do with the Mustangs’ desire to help on dribble-drives and “tag” on pick-and-rolls (when a weak side defender temporarily helps by covering the rolling screener). Tech’s guards will have to be ready for B.J. Edwards, a sturdy point-of-attack defender who ranks third in the ACC in steals.
Duncan Powell (31) is one of three Yellow Jackets from the state of Texas. (photo by Danny Karnik)
In an alternate timeline, Naithan George may have played his college basketball in the state of Texas. The sophomore’s first Division I offer, he said, came from Sam Houston State, and he also charted an offer from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before signing with Georgia Tech.
With about a dozen friends and family members making the trek from Toronto, George finished in double figures for a third-straight game against Syracuse. Lance Terry notwithstanding, though, he and the Yellow Jackets struggled to find clean, in-rhythm three-point looks against Syracuse – Tech finished 4-of-21 against an SU team that had one of the more generous three-point defenses in the ACC.
For a game that figures to be offensive-minded, pay attention to the trio of George, Terry and Javian McCollum from behind the arc.
In Georgia Tech’s wins, they’re averaging 42.0% from three-point range.
In Tech’s losses, they’re averaging 30.7%.
SMU’s defensive principles are similar to Boston College. Just like the BC game, can Tech get the Mustangs’ defense elastic with swings, reversals and throwbacks? And if so, can Nait, Lance and Javian cash in like they did against the Eagles?
Just in time for SMU to join the ACC: Georgia Tech has three players on its roster from the state of Texas. That’s as many Texas natives as the Yellow Jackets had in the previous 15 years combined.
Now that we’re prepared, we hope you are as well. Join us for pregame coverage starting with the “Ramblin’ Wreck Tip-off Show” at 3:30 p.m. ET. See you in Dallas.
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Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is in its second year under head coach Damon Stoudamire. 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 X (@GTMBB) and Instagram. For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com. Tickets for men’s basketball can be reserved here.
