Jan. 23, 2003
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech resumes conference play at No. 3-ranked Duke Saturday in a 12 noon, nationally televised game on ESPN.
Radio coverage will be provided by the Georgia Tech-ISP Network, and heard on Atlanta on WQXI-AM (790) and WMGP-FM (98.1).
Tech (9-6, 2-2 ACC) has won four of its last five games, including a 66-47 win in its last outing Wednesday night against Elon. Tech completed its non-conference slate at 7-4. The Yellow Jackets are off to their best ACC start since 2001, when it also began the conference slate at 2-2. Tech was 10-5 through 15 games overall then, and the Jackets were 7-8 overall through 15 games last year, just beginning a six-game skid.
Duke (12-2, 3-2 ACC) has lost its last two games, both on the road at Maryland (87-72) and NC State (80-71).
Tech is looking for is first win on an opponent’s home court, having lost all five previous opportunities this season, including conference losses at Maryland and Wake Forest. The Jackets finished last season with three consecutive road wins at Saint Louis, Virginia and Florida State, and are 6-19 on the road in two-plus seasons under Paul Hewitt.
The Jackets are also looking for their first win over Duke since Feb. 7, 1996 and its first win in Cameron Indoor Stadium since Jan. 7, 1996.
“The fact that they’ve lost their last two games will not change the intensity with which they play,” said Tech head coach Paul Hewitt. “They have the best perimeter in the country. J.J. Redick is a great freshman and a great shooter, and while Chris Duhon may not be shooting the ball that well, you have to play him as a shooter. Dahntay Jones and Daniel Ewing are very good players, and they have depth underneath.
“They don’t have the kind of star players they had with Jay Williams, Carlos Boozer and Mike Dunleavy, but they have very good players to take their places.”
Georgia Tech’s starting five for the last seven games has been 6-3 freshman Jarrett Jack, 6-4 junior Marvin Lewis, 6-4 sophomore B.J. Elder, 6-10 freshman Chris Bosh and 7-1 sophomore Luke Schenscher, and the Yellow Jackets are 4-3 with that group on the floor for the opening tip. Tech has used four different starting lineups this season, with Jack and Bosh the only two players to start every game.
Tech has three players scoring in double figures for the season, led by Bosh at 16.3 points per game, which ranks ninth in the ACC. The Rookie of the Year candidate, who has averaged 20.7 in his last three games, leads the ACC in field goal percentage (60.4), rebounding (9.9) and double-doubles (8), and is the nation’s top rebounder among freshmen.
Elder ranks 10th in the ACC in scoring at 16.1 points while hitting 45.7 percent of his field goal attempts (6th in the ACC) and 48.5 percent of his three-point tries (1st in the ACC). Lewis, a sharpshooting junior hitting 63.9 percent of his shots in ACC games, averages 12.3 points a game and is hitting 39.0 percent of his three-point attempts overall (4th in the ACC).
Jack averages 7.5 points and 6.0 assists (fifth in the ACC), while Schenscher averages 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds for the season and is hitting 51.9 percent of his field goal tries.
Tech gets help off the bench from 6-8 sophomore Ed Nelson, who averages 7.9 points and 6.7 rebounds (second on the team, 8th in the ACC), and 6-6 sophomore forward Isma’il Muhammad, who averages 6.8 points and 4.3 rebounds. Anthony McHenry, a 6-7 sophomore averaging 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds, provides excellent defense on the wing.
Theodis Tarver (2.1 ppg, 1.4 rpg), a 6-9 freshman, and Robert Brooks, a 6-8 junior averaging 0.5 points and 1.1 rebounds per game, add depth in the frontcourt, while Jim Nystrom, a 6-4 freshman from Sweden, is 3-of-13 from three-point range in three games since he became eligible on Dec. 29.
Redick, a 6-4 guard, leads three Blue Devils averaging in double figures at 17.2 points a game, and is shooting 44 percent from three-point range. Dahntay Jones, a 6-6 forward, averages 16.9 points a game, while 6-3 guard Daniel Ewing averages 12.1. Chris Duhon, a 6-1 junior, runs the point and averages 9.3 points and 7.6 assists per game, and Duke has depth across the frontcourt with 6-10 Nick Horvath (5.0) and a pair of freshmen in 6-10 Shavlik Randolph (9.2) and 6-9 Shelden Williams (6.9).
TECH SERIES VS. DUKE
Duke leads the all-time series with Georgia Tech, 49-20, and swept the regular-season series last season for the sixth straight year. The Blue Devils defeated Tech, 104-79, on Jan. 10 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, then completed the sweep with a 95-63 win on Jan. 9 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
Duke has won the last 12 games in a row with Georgia Tech dating back to the 1995-96 season, when the Stephon Marbury/Matt Harpring-led Jackets swept the season series from the Blue Devils on the way to a first-place finish in the regular season (13-3).
The average margin of victory for Duke during the 12-game streak is 23.3 points per game. The closest game was an 87-79 decision in Atlanta on Feb. 6, 1999, and only three of the games were decided by 10 points or fewer.
Prior to the current string, Tech had won three of four from the Blue Devils. Tech’s best stretch during the series occurred between 1982 and 1989, when the Yellow Jackets won 10 of 17 meetings. The Jackets have never won more than two in a row in the series.
Tech has won just four of 29 games played at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the last win occurring Jan. 7, 1996. The others occurred in 1987, 1984 and 1959.
The teams are even at 3-3 in ACC Tournament encounters. Tech defeated Duke on the way to each of its three tourament titles, including semifinal victories in 1985 (75-64) and 1990 (83-72) and a first-round triumph in 1993 (69-66). The Blue Devils defeated Tech in the 1986 championship game, 68-67.
Duke was the first opponent for Georgia Tech in Alexander Memorial Coliseum back on Nov. 30, 1956, when the Blue Devils took a 71-61 victory. Tech is 11-15 against Duke in the Thrillerdome, and the Blue Devils have won the last five meetings here.
POINT TO PROVE ON THE ROAD
The Yellow Jackets have played seven games away from Alexander Memorial Coliseum this season and lost six of them, including an 0-5 record on opponents’ home courts. Tech’s only win away from home this season is a 67-53 decision against Marist at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 7.
But Tech has accomplished much away from home since Paul Hewitt became head coach, most notably wins over UCLA and Kentucky on neutral courts in his first season, along with snapping a 16-game ACC road losing streak at Virginia and winning at Clemson for the first time in eight years.
Tech has been a much better road team under Paul Hewitt, posting a 13-19 mark in his first two seasons following a 7-29 mark away from home in its last two years under Bobby Cremins. The Jackets’ road losses this season have occurred at No. 17 Minnesota, Syracuse, No. 22 Maryland, Tulane and No. 19 Wake Forest.
Last season, Tech was 7-9 away from home (including a 4-6 mark on opponent’s home courts), and won at Clemson, Virginia and Florida State. By the numbers, Tech is shooting just 39.8 percent from the floor and 29.2 percent from three-point range in road games this season. The Jackets have a minus-5.3 turnover margin on the road, and has been on the short end (81-74) in free throw attempts. Its hosts on the road have hit 45.2 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from behind the arc.
A BETTER START
Georgia Tech, looking for a better start to this year’s ACC schedule than it had last season, has won nine of its last 13 conference games and is off to its best start in conference play since the 2000-01 season (also 2-2).
The Yellow Jackets finished the 2001-02 ACC slate at 7-9 after dropping its first seven, which was the biggest turnaround in conference history. Tech’s seven ACC wins broke the previous record of four straight wins by a team beginning the season 0-7 or worse, held by NC State in 1996-97 and Florida State in 2001-02. Tech wound up defeating every team in the ACC during the season except Duke and Maryland, who handed the Jackets their only two losses after January.
TECH AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
Georgia Tech has won nine games against nationally-ranked opponents against 19 losses in two-plus seasons under Paul Hewitt, including a 1-3 mark this season. Tech took an 83-77 homecourt win over No. 17 Georgia on Nov. 27, and suffered road losses to No. 20 Minnesota (64-63), No. 23 Maryland (84-77) and No. 19 Wake Forest (73-66), an average losing margin of just 5.0 points. At home, Tech is 5-5 against nationally-ranked opposition, and 7-6 against ranked teams in the city of Atlanta (including games at Philips Arena and the Georgia Dome).
ELDER-BOSH-LEWIS TRIO FUELS TECH OFFENSE
The recent resurgence of junior guard Marvin Lewis helped fuel an offensive upswing for Georgia Tech, and gives Tech a potent scoring trio along with B.J. Elder and Chris Bosh. All three rank among the top 17 in the ACC in scoring average. Bosh and Elder rank first and sixth, respectively, in field goal percentage, and Elder and Lewis rank No. 1 and 5 in three-point percentage (42.3 percent combined) while ranking fourth and seventh in three-pointers made per game.
In its last five games, Tech has shot 46.4 percent from the floor and 40.4 percent from three-point range.
In each of its last four wins, the Yellow Jackets posted an explosive half of shooting, 55.6 percent in the second half against Elon, 68 percent in the first half against FSU, 64.5 percent in the second half against NC State and 58.6 percent in the second half against Cornell. Tech shot 57.7 percent against NC State for the game, its best single-game effort in more than three years.
PUTTING THE CLAMPS ON
The Yellow Jackets have tightened their defense in the last two weeks, holding their last five opponents (including three ACC foes) to 62.0 points per game and 39.0 percent shooting from the floor (32.3 percent from three-point range), with Florida State’s 74 points and 42.2 field goal percentage the highest figures during that stretch.
Tech has also shut down two of the ACC’s top scorers in Julius Hodge (No. 1, 19.2 ppg before Tech) and Tim Pickett (No. 4, 18.0 before Tech). The Jackets held Hodge to just nine points (1-6 FG) and Pickett to 13 (5-16 FG, 3-11 on threes).
Tech is 25-2 under Paul Hewitt when the opponent shoots less than 40 percent from the floor, and 36-12 when the opponent scores less than 80 points.
BOSH M’GOSH
Chris Bosh has established himself as one of the top freshmen in the nation and the ACC, leading the nation’s first-year players in rebounding (9.9) and ranking second in field goal percentage (60.4).
The 6-10 forward has had an impact for the Yellow Jackets in every facet of the game and every column of the stat sheet. He leads the ACC in field goal percentage, rebounding and double-doubles (8), ranks second in blocked shots (1.67 per game) and ninth in scoring average (16.3 points per game).
Bosh leads the conference in offensive rebounds (4.0 per game), has shot 72 percent from the free throw line and 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from three-point range. He has more assists (27) than turnovers (26) and has fewer turnovers per 40 minutes than anyone else on the Tech squad.
He has had an 8-for-9 game from the floor, a 3-for-3 game from three-point range and a 9-for-9 game from the free throw line.
He has begun to assert himself more offensively in recent weeks, hitting 47-of-71 shots in his last seven games (66.2 percent) and 25-of-28 (89.3 percent) from the foul line as Tech has put together four wins in five games. He has averaged 20.7 points in his last three games, and he has hit 8 of his last 11 three-point attempts.
Bosh has recorded “double-doubles” in points in rebounds in three straight games (11/12 vs. NC State, 19/12 vs. Florida State, 22/10 at Wake Forest) and has an ACC-best eight for the season. He has missed three others by one rebound.
The 6-10 rookie has been named ACC Rookie of the Week three times, and is bidding to become only the second Tech player to lead the ACC in field goal percentage [John Salley is the last, and only, 62.7 percent in 1985.]. The Texas native has also been very efficient with his shot selection, ranking just eighth on the team in field goal attempts per 40 minutes, and also has been to the foul line 34 times more than his closest teammate.
LEWIS TAKING DRAMATIC TURNS
Marvin Lewis, Tech’s most experienced player and its best outside shooter, got hot and then got cold.
The 6-4 junior was already hot before Tech’s game with Florida State on Jan. 14, when he poured in a career-high 33 points, the highest total for a Tech player in three years, and hit his first eight shots in an 11-of-13 night (6-of-8 from three-point range).
It was the culmination of five-game stretch which was the best of his career, in which he averaged 18.6 points a game, hit 32-of-50 shots from the floor (64 percent) and 18-of-30 from three-point range (60 percent). But in the two games since, Lewis has scored a total of 11 points, hit just 4-of-17 shots and missed all 11 three-point attempts.
The Germantown, Md., native is 17th in the league rankings for scoring (12.3 points per game), fifth in three-point percentage (39.0) and seventh in three-pointers per game (2.13). At 80.6 percent from the free throw line, he would rank ninth in the league with enough attempts, and his 44.4 overall field goal percentage would rank 11th.
In four ACC games, Lewis is averaging 16.8 points a game, hitting 63.9 percent of his field goals and 52.6 percent of his three-point attempts.
