Feb. 9, 2004
ATLANTA –
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#15/16 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (17-5, 4-4 ACC) vs. #14/17 North Carolina Tar Heels (14-6, 4-5 ACC)
February 10, 2004 * 9 p.m. ET
Alexander Memorial Coliseum (9,191), Atlanta, Ga.
TV: Raycom/JP Sports (WPXA-TV in Atlanta); Bob Rathbun, pbp; Billy Packer, color
Radio: Georgia Tech/ISP Network (WQXI-AM 790, WTSH-FM 107.1 in Atlanta); Wes Durham, pbp; Randy Waters, color
Series vs. North Carolina: North Carolina leads, 55-16 In Atlanta: Tech is 10-20 At AMC: 7-11
Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt: 131-76 (.633), 7th season overall 65-49 (.570), 4th season at Tech 26-30 (.464) vs. the ACC 2-6 vs. UNC (2-2 in Atlanta)
North Carolina coach Roy Williams: 432-107 (.801), 8th season overall 14-6 (.700), 1st season at UNC 2-0 vs. Georgia Tech (1-0 with UNC)
Next for Georgia Tech: Feb. 14 vs. Virginia, 2 p.m. ET Next for North Carolina: Feb. 15 vs. Maryland, 3:30 p.m. ET
THE TIP-OFF
> Georgia Tech’s comes off a two-game road swing to host No. 17 North Carolina Tuesday night (9 p.m., RJ). The Yellow Jackets follow this game with two more on the road, Saturday at Virginia and Feb. 19 at Maryland.
> Tech (17-5 overall, 4-4 ACC) is in third place in the ACC at the midway point of the Yellow Jackets’ conference schedule. Duke is on top of the standings at 9-0, followed by NC State at 7-2. A win for Tech against North Carolina will put the Jackets a full-game ahead of the Seminoles, Tar Heels, Wake Forest and Maryland, who are tied for fourth place at 4-5.
> Tech is coming off a 77-62 win at Tennessee Saturday, its last non-conference game of the season, and snapped a two-game losing streak. North Carolina (14-6, 4-5 ACC) defeated Wake Forest, 79-73, Saturday at Winston-Salem, also breaking a two-game skid.
> With 17 wins, Tech has matched its best season total under head coach Paul Hewitt in just 22 games. The Yellow Jackets went 17-13 and reached the NCAA Tournament in Hewitt’s first season of 2000-01. Tech has not won more than 17 games since the 1997-98 season, when it went 19-14 and reached the quarterfinals of the NIT.
> Tech is in the Top 25 for the 11th straight week, this week remaining at No. 15 in the Associated Press poll and No. 16 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. Tech debuted in the AP poll at No. 13 (No. 15 in the coaches’ poll) on Dec. 1 following their Preseason NIT wins over No. 1 Connecticut and No. 25 Texas Tech.
> Tech is 10-1 at home this season and has won 25 of its last 28 games at home. The Jackets lost to Duke, 82-74, in their last home game on Jan. 31.
COACH HEWITT SAYS
On the difference in preparing for Tech’s second chance with North Carolina — “I thought Carolina played a great basketball game, and I thought we didn’t play up to our capabilities. I’m not sure, even if we had played great, that we could have won that game. Especially in watching the tape over again, they were pretty sharp that day. Raymond Felton was outstanding, and Sean May was tremendous. So we’re not going to change a whole lot. I just hope that we come out and play better Tuesday night.”
On Tech’s halfcourt offense at Tennessee — “It was the best we have screened all year. If you have a good shooter like Marvin Lewis, and another good shooter like B.J. Elder, and you set good screens for those guys, you’re going to get good looks. That’s what happened Saturday.”
On the value of Tech’s win at Tennessee — “Anytime you go on the road and play a team like Tennessee, who played Kentucky and Louisville tough at home, and had wins over Florida and Vanderbilt, and you go in there and win decisively, it helps. We were going though a stretch where we played tough conference games and lost three out of four, so it was nice to get that ‘W’ and keep their heads up.”
On overcoming foul trouble to Jarrett Jack at Tennessee — “That’s the strength of this team, especially on the perimeter where you have any one of five guys who can go for 15 or 20 points any night. Also when you have that type of depth, you don’t have to worry about foul trouble, and you don’t change as much. You can plug a guy like Will Bynum in and not really have to change what you do.”
On Tech’s overall record and conference standing at the midpoint of the ACC schedule — “I’m pleased with the fact that we’ve gone 13-1 in a non-conference schedule that included the likes of Connecticut, Texas Tech, on the road at Tennessee, on the road at Georgia. I’m very pleased with that. But we want to be better. Being 4-4 in the conference at this point, in third place, it’s not bad. But we’re not exactly where we want to be. I’ll take that as a good starting point for the second half of the season.”
TECH VS. NORTH CAROLINA
> North Carolina leads the all-time series with Georgia Tech, 55-16, and has won 14 of the last 17 meetings dating back to Feb. 10, 1996, when Tech posted a 92-83 victory at Chapel Hill.
> The Tar Heels won the first meeting this year, 103-88, in Chapel Hill on Jan. 11. North Carolina scored the first nine points of the game and put together another 17-2 run in the first half to take control of the game. Sean May scored 28 points and Raymond Felton 25 for the Tar Heels. Tech was led by Jarrett Jack with a career-best 22.
> Marvin Lewis has scored in double figures in each of his last four games against North Carolina, averaging 14.8 points over that span and 10.3 over his encounters with the Tar Heels in his career. B.J. Elder has averaged 14.6 points in five career games against North Carolina.
> At Alexander Memorial Coliseum, Tech is 7-11 against North Carolina, and is 9-17 in all home games against the Tar Heels, including those played at the Omni in the 1980s. Counting ACC Tournament games played at the Omni and the Georgia Dome and one SIC Tournament game at the City Auditorium in 1925, Tech is 10-20 vs. Carolina in the city of Atlanta.
> Tech has defeated the Tar Heels at home each of the past two years, scoring an 88-68 triumph last season and an 86-74 win in 2002. In last season’s game, Chris Bosh led the Jackets with 22 points, followed by B.J. Elder with 19, Marvin Lewis with 18 and Jarrett Jack with 13 points and eight assists.
> Since Tech joined the ACC, it is 14-41 against the Tar Heels. Tech is 2-6 against UNC under head coach Paul Hewitt.
FROM TECH’S 77-62 WIN AT TENNESSEE
> For the second straight game, Tech used the starting lineup with which it played the first 13 games of the season — Jarrett Jack, Marvin Lewis, B.J. Elder at the guards, Anthony McHenry at forward and Luke Schenscher at center. The Jackets are 13-2 with this lineup.
> Two Tech players scored 20 points in the same game for the first time since the Jackets’ Nov. 26 win over No. 1 Connecticut. Marvin Lewis scored a season-high 24 and B.J. Elder added 20 against the Vols, and the two players combined to make 16 of 25 shots from the floor and 6 of 8 three-pointers.
> Tech shot 50 percent or better from the floor (52.1 percent) for the sixth time this season, and the first time since Dec. 29. Tech is 6-0 in those games.
> Tech held the Volunteers to 30 percent from the floor and 21.7 percent from three-point range. It was the 15th time the Jackets have held an opponent under 40 percent this season. It also was the 15th time Tech has limited its opponent to less than 30 percent from three-point range.
> Tech hit 8 of 16 three-point shots, and Marvin Lewis went 5-for-6 from that range.
> Tech evened its road record this season at 4-4.
QUICK LOOK AT TECH
Five Tech players are averaging in double figures this season, led by 6-4 junior B.J. Elder at 15.3 points a game (7th in the ACC), 6-3 sophomore Jarrett Jack (12.7 ppg, 16th in the ACC), 6-4 senior Marvin Lewis (11.8 ppg, 24th in the ACC), 6-6 junior Isma’il Muhammad (10.8 ppg) and 6-0 junior Will Bynum (10.6 ppg).
Jack, Tech’s point guard, and Luke Schenscher, Tech’s 7-1 junior center, have started every game this season.
Jack is third in the ACC in assist average (6.00 per game) and fifth in steals (2.14 per game), while shooting 48.1 percent from the floor. Schenscher averages 8.4 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds (11th in the ACC), hits 54.9 percent of his shots and ranks sixth in the league in blocks (1.36 per game).
Elder, who has struggled with his shooting this season (40.8 percent overall, 33.6 from three-point range), had one of his better outings Saturday at Tennessee, scoring 20 points while hitting 8 of 14 shots from the floor. He leads Tech in scoring at 15.3 points a game and has shot 79.5 percent from the foul line.
Lewis, who has averaged 10.3 points and shot 41.0 percent from three-point range against the ACC this season, scored a season-high 24 points at Tennessee, hitting 8 of 11 shots from the floor and 5 of 6 from three-point range. He has shot 39.3 percent from three-point land in all games this season, and 44.7 percent from the floor overall.
Muhammad, a 6-6 defensive whiz who has started six games for Tech, would lead the ACC in field goal percentage (62.8) but falls short of qualifying for the rankings. Tech’s second-best rebounder at 5.1 per game, Muhammad notched five rebounds, four assists, a block and four steals off the bench at Tennessee while scoring six points.
Bynum, a 6-0 junior who has given the Jackets a big lift off the bench since becoming eligible on Dec. 13, averages 10.6 points per game for the season. Even better in ACC games at 13.0 points a game, he has shot 41.9 percent from three-point range against the conference.
Clarence Moore, a 6-5 senior who missed the Clemson game with a toe injury but returned to play the last three games, averages 6.1 points and 4.8 rebounds for the season, and has hit 42.9 percent from three-point range and is second on the team with 27 steals.
Tech’s other primary players include Anthony McHenry (2.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg), a 6-7 junior playing strong forward, and Theodis Tarver, a 6-9 sophomore postman who has averaged 1.1 points and 1.9 rebounds since getting back on the court Jan. 11 after a pre-season knee injury.
ACCESS DENIED – DEFENSE STILL BASIS FOR TECH SUCCESS
Defensive pressure, both half-court and full-court, continues to be the catalyst for Tech and creates the offensive opportunities that have the Yellow Jackets averaging 79.0 points a game (third in the ACC, best in Paul Hewitt’s four years at Tech) and shooting 46.9 percent from the floor (fourth in the ACC).
> The Jackets have allowed only seven teams to shoot 40 percent or better this season, and have limited their opponents to 37.3 percent collectively and 27.9 percent from three-point range.
> Those figures rank first and second, respectively, in the ACC for all games, and are third and second, respectively, in the ACC for conference games only.
> Only six starting backcourts have managed more assists than turnovers, and the Jackets have limited 14 starting backcourts to a combined five assists or fewer.
> Tech’s scoring yield of 64.4 points a game this season would be the sixth lowest in school history if the season ended today. Its FG percentage allowance would be the fourth lowest, and the three-point yield would be a school-record low.
HIGH SCORERS FIND GOING TOUGH
Georgia Tech’s defensive efforts have, for the most part, been highly effective against the leading scorers of its opponents, and the Yellow Jackets are also vastly improved in their defense on the perimeter and against opposing three-point shooters. Only seven leading scorers among Tech’s opponents have managed to match or beat their season averages against the Jackets, and Tech has held 12 of those players to single digits.
The Jackets made life difficult Saturday for Tennessee’s Scotter McFadgon, the SEC’s leading scorer at 19.1 points a game coming in. McFadgon scored eight points against Tech and hit just 2 of 13 shots from the floor (1-for-7 from three). Tech had a similar effort against the ACC’s leading scorer earlier this season, holding NC State’s Julius Hodge (18.1 ppg at the time) to just two points.
EXTRA CREDIT
While Georgia Tech has defended the three-point shot much better this season, it is also shooting the three far better than last year.
The Jackets have shot threes at a 36.7-percent rate this season and have made 7.23 per game and consistently have ranked among the ACC’s top four teams in those categories all season. Tech ranked sixth in the ACC last season in three-point field goal percentage (35.2), and eighth in three-pointers per game (5.74).
At 39.3 percent, Marvin Lewis has exceeded the best effort of his career to this point in the season, and ranks fifth in the ACC. B.J. Elder ranks 12th in the conference at 33.6 percent, and while they don’t have enough three-pointers to make the conference list, Jarrett Jack and Will Bynum have combined to make 35.3 percent of their attempts.
LEWIS AND ELDER KEY SCORING PUNCH
Wing guards Marvin Lewis and B.J. Elder both have shown signs of heating up in recent games, which would be good news for Georgia Tech down the stretch. When both players score in double figures, as they did in Saturday’s 77-62 win at Tennessee, the Yellow Jackets are 10-1 this season.
Since ACC play began, both players have reached double figures against North Carolina, Virginia, Wake Forest, Clemson and Tennessee, and Tech is 4-1 in those games. The two players combined to score 44 of Tech’s 77 points against the Volunteers and hit 16 of 25 shots between them. Lewis went 5-for-6 from behind the three-point stripe.
No player has shown a more dramatic swing in their statistical numbers between Tech’s wins and losses as have those of Lewis and Elder. In Tech’s 17 victories, Lewis has averaged 12.8 points, shot 48.7 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from three-point land, compared to 8.2 ppg, 31.1% FG and and 25.0% 3FG in Tech’s five losses. The difference is less pronounced for Elder, but still significant — 15.9 ppg, 43.1% FG and 34.6% 3FG in Tech’s wins; 13.4 ppg, 32.8% FG and 31.4% 3FG in Tech’s losses.
Since the Clemson game, when Elder scored 36 points, the 6-4 junior has shot 45.6 percent from the floor and averaged 14.3 shot attempts per game. He shot 30.6 percent and averaged 10 shots a game in the five games prior to Clemson.
In the same stretch, Lewis has averaged 12.5 points a game, shot 53.1 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent from three-point range.
