Jan. 21, 2011
Complete game notes
ACC Network Affiliates
ATLANTA – Boosted by a pair of lopsided home court wins this week, Georgia Tech travels to the Commonwealth of Virginia Saturday for a 12 noon Atlantic Coast Conference game against Virginia at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville.
The Yellow Jackets (9-8, 2-2 ACC) dug out from an 0-2 ACC start this week by defeating North Carolina, 78-58, on Sunday and Wake Forest, 74-39, on Wednesday. Tech did so on the strength of its defense, which limited the two teams to 26.8-percent shooting from the floor and forced 36 turnovers.
Tech, which is 2-6 away from Atlanta this season, plays four of its next five games at home following Saturday’s game in Charlottesville.
Head coach Paul Hewitt’s team, which returns two starters and eight letterwinners from a team that reached the championship game in last year’s ACC Tournament and won their first-round game in the NCAA Tournament, is one of the youngest in the ACC, with freshmen and sophomores making 59 of 85 possible starts and playing more than 70 percent of the minutes. Tech has been picked to finish ninth in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Virginia (10-8, 1-3 ACC) opened its ACC schedule by winning at Virginia Tech in December, but has dropped three straight in conference play in January to North Carolina, Duke and Boston College. The Cavaliers, who lost a close decision (70-67) at Boston College Wednesday night, are 7-3 at home this season.
Saturday is the first of two meetings betwen Tech and Virginia, who will play at Alexander Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 23. The teams met once last year, an 82-75 Cavalier win in Charlottesville. The Jackets last won there on Jan. 27, 2008, a 92-82 overtime victory.
Game Data
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9-8, 2-2 ACC) vs. Virginia Cavaliers (10-8, 1-3 ACC)
Date: Saturday, January 22, 2011
Tipoff: 12 noon. Eastern time
Site: John Paul Jones Arena (capacity 14,593), Charlottesville, Va.
Television: ACC Network – Mike Hogewood, play-by-play; Mike Gminski, color
Radio: Georgia Tech Sports Network from IMG College, live on flagship station WQXI-AM (790 the Zone) and WYAY-FM (106.7) – Wes Durham, play-by-play; Randy Waters, color.
Satellite Radio: Sirius Ch. 212; XM Ch. 190 (Virginia broadcast)
Tech Record Breakdown: 7-2 at home, 0-5 on the road, 2-1 neutral
Series History: Tech leads, 38-31 (Tech is 11-18 in Charlottesville)
National Rankings: Georgia Tech is unranked; Virginia is unranked.
Georgia Tech Coach Paul Hewitt: Hewitt (St. John Fisher `85) is 186-152 in his 11th season with the Yellow Jackets, 252-179 in his 14th season overall.
Virginia Coach Tony Bennett: Bennett (Wisconsin-Green Bay `92) is 25-24 in his 2nd season with the Cavaliers, 94-57 in his 5th season overall.
Series History – Tech vs. Virginia
> Georgia Tech has won eight of the last 13, 12 of the last 18, and 19 of the last 27 meetings with Virginia. But Virginia has won the last two, including an 82-75 win in Charlottesville last season.
> Since Tech joined the ACC, the Yellow Jackets are 36-30 against Virginia.
> Tech has four wins in its last seven trips to Charlottesville, including a 1-2 mark at John Paul Jones Arena. The Yellow Jackets were 10-16 against Virginia at University Hall, the Cavaliers’ former homecourt, Tech’s best winning percentage on an ACC foe’s home court.
> Tech is 11-6 against Virginia under Paul Hewitt, including wins in all three meetings in Hewitt’s first season of 2000-01.
> Tech and Virginia have played to overtime seven times since the 1983-84 season, including a 72-71 triple-overtime win for Tech in Atlanta on Jan. 23, 1984, and an 88-85 double-overtime triumph for Virginia in Charlottesville on Jan. 22, 1995.
> The Jackets have won 10 of the last 13 meetings between the two teams in Alexander Memorial Coliseum, but lost the most recent game, 88-84 in overtime on Dec. 28, 2008. Overall, Tech is 21-7 against the Cavaliers in Alexander Memorial Coliseum, 22-9 on all home courts and 24-10 in games played in the city of Atlanta.
> In the ACC Tournament, Tech has won five of nine games, including a 70-61 Jacket victory in the 1990 final in Charlotte.
Last Year vs. Virginia
Jan. 13 in Charlottesville – Sylven Landesberg scored 22 points and Virginia used a 16-4 run late in the second half to surge past No. 20 Georgia Tech 82-75.
Georgia Tech shot better than 50 percent from the field, but struggled mightily at the free throw line, missing 8 of 11 attempts. The Cavaliers, conversely, were 23-for-26, including 14 of 15 in the final 8 1/2 minutes.
Mustapha Farrakhan added 15 points and Mike Scott 12 for Virginia. Zachery Peacock led Georgia Tech with 19 points and Iman Shumpert had 15.
Virginia trailed 55-51 until Sammy Zeglinski hit a 3-pointer from the left corner, only the third of the game for the Cavaliers. It sparked the big run that gave the home team a 67-59 lead, the biggest of the game for either team, and whipped the crowd into a frenzy.
Georgia Tech scored on its next two possessions, both times on turnaround jumpers by Gani Lawal, but Landesberg hit two free throws in between. Virginia got three chances the next time down court and chewed up plenty of clock before each shot. Finally, after Landesberg rebounded a missed free throw by Jerome Meyinsse, Zeglinski hit a contested 3-pointer with the shot clock running down, making it 72-63 with 2:08 left and giving Virginia a cushion.
