Jan. 2, 2006
ATLANTA –
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Georgia Tech, coming off a 27-point win over Bethune-Cookman on New Year’s Eve, begins 2006 by entertaining surging Vanderbilt at 5 p.m. on Tuesday night.
The second of three straight home games for the Yellow Jackets, the game will be regionally televised on FSN South and Comcast Sports Net. It is also the first time Tech has hosted a Southeastern Conference team other than Georgia at Alexander Memorial Coliseum in nearly 28 years.
Radio coverage is provided by the Georgia Tech-ISP Sports Network, and airs in the Atlanta area on WQXI-AM (790), WTSH-FM (107.1) and WREK-FM (91.1). The Tech broadcast can also be heard on XM Radio Ch. 192.
The Yellow Jackets (6-4 overall, 1-0 ACC this season) defeated Bethune-Cookman, 73-46, last time out, which was the second largest margin of victory for Tech this season. The Commodores (9-1, 0-0 SEC), coming off a 63-60 win at Dayton Friday night, have lost only to Cincinnati and have beaten Georgetown and Oregon.
“They’re a very good team, a well-coached team,” said head coach Paul Hewitt. “They run similar sets to Air Force, but their players are better at creating shots for themselves if a play breaks down. This is a good game for both of us. They want to recruit Atlanta, and we want to recruit in Tennessee. We have a high number of alumni in the Atlanta area, so when we go up there next year, we can take care of a couple of things.”
Tech, which has made some alterations in their starting lineup over the holiday break, permitted its fewest points of the season in the win over Bethune-Cookman and has allowed just 55.7 per game over the last three. Tech is playing two men short and has just eight scholarship players available with guards Mario West and Lewis Clinch out with injuries.
After using the same starting lineup for the first five games, Hewitt has altered it three times in the last four, the latest due in part to injury.
Sophomore guard Zam Fredrick returned to the lineup for the Bethune-Cookman game in place of Paco Diaw, who started against Jacksonville and Air Force, and freshman D’Andre Bell made his first start in place of Mario West, who sustained a sprained left big toe at Air Force and will miss two to three weeks.
They join leading scorer Anthony Morrow on the perimeter, and leading rebounder Jeremis Smith at power forward and Theodis Tarver at center in Tech’s starting five.
Morrow, a 6-5 sophomore from Charlotte, N.C., leads the Jackets and ranks seventh in the ACC in scoring at 16.5 points a game. He has shot 46.7 percent from three-point range (2nd in the ACC) and is third in the conference in three-point field goals (2.80 per game). He is one of three Tech players averaging in double digits, including Smith (13.4) and Dickey (11.2).
Fredrick, a 6-0 sophomore from St. Matthews, S.C., has averaged 9.6 points, including four double-figure games, and 4.1 assists this season. Bell, a 6-5 wingman from Los Angeles, Calif., has averaged 23.3 minutes off the bench the last three games, scoring 7.3 points per game. He averages 3.5 points and 1.8 rebounds for the season.
Smith, a 6-6 sophomore from Fort Worth, Texas, has transformed himself into a force in the paint over Tech’s last six games, averaging 15.6 points and 9.9 rebounds over that stretch. Fully recovered from a dislocated kneecap that sidelined him for 17 games last year, Smith is the ACC’s second-leading rebounder at 8.9 per game and leads the team with 22 steals (4th in ACC).
Tarver, a 6-9 senior from Monroe, La., making his first starts since his freshman year, scored a career-high 11 points against Jacksonville and has hit 52.2 percent of his field goal tries.
Due to injuries to West and freshman Lewis Clinch, who has missed the last three games with a left leg stress fracture, Tech has just one scholarship reserve in the backcourt in Diaw, a 6-6 freshman from Dakar, Senegal. He has played nearly 14.3 minutes a game in his last four, notching career highs of six points and five rebounds (3 assists) against Bethune-Cookman.
In the frontcourt, Dickey, a 6-9 sophomore from Clio, S.C., is shooting a team-high 56.6 percent from the floor and taking 6.8 rebounds per game. He has averaged 9.3 points and 8.0 rebounds off the bench in the last four games. Freshman Alade Aminu, a 6-9 player with good athletic ability and shot-blocking skills, has averaged 2.7 points and 2.0 rebounds.
“I continue to see some improvement on the defensive end,” said Hewitt. “Over the last three games, I think we’re doing the right things. Against Air Force, a team that had shot 49 percent, we held them under 30 and to follow up and hold another team under 30 – I like the improvement there.
“But offensively, we still seem to be struggling with the concept of moving the basketball, reversing it and finding open players, knowing when to attack and when not to attack. In the second half (against Bethune-Cookman), we did a much better job of creating some jobs and some post-ups, and we did a much better job of running the floor. But even though it was better in the second half, I still thought it was inconsistent.
“I think the kids have done a terrific job of trying to understand what we want them to do defensively, and it’s starting to show. We’re more cohesive, we’re understanding how to play screens, and we’re talking a lot more. When you communicate, you allow your teammates to react quicker. The more we communicate, the quicker we are defensively. That’s why you’re seeing more contested shots.”
Series vs. Vanderbilt
Wednesday’s game is the first of a four-game series the former Southeastern Conference rivals will play. The Yellow Jackets will travel to Nashville during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons, and the Commodores will return to Atlanta for a game in 2008-09.
Vanderbilt is the first SEC team other than Georgia to visit Alexander Memorial Coliseum since Feb. 1, 1978, when the Jackets entertained Auburn.
The Commodores hold a 36-31 overall lead in the series which began in 1914. Tech holds a 20-13 lead against the Commodores in Atlanta, and is 6-2 against Vanderbilt at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
Vanderbilt and Tech have played just once since Tech left the SEC in 1964. That game was an 86-77 Tech overtime victory on Dec. 18, 1993, at the Georgia Dome in the Kuppenheimer Classic.
Among SEC teams, Tech has played only Georgia (182 games), Auburn (114 games) and Tennessee (69 games) more times than it has Vanderbilt. The Yellow Jackets are 49-80 against SEC teams since leaving the conference in 1964, including a 22-23 mark against the league at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
Add West to Injured List
Mario West suffered a sprain of the big toe on his left foot Wednesday night in Georgia Tech’s loss at Air Force, and is expected to miss two to three weeks because of the injury. The 6-4 guard, who has started all nine games, was averaging 7.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists while leading the team in steals with 18 and shooting 53.5 percent from the floor.
Tech has been playing without freshman Lewis Clinch, a 6-3 guard from Cordele, Ga., who is expected to be sidelined until mid-January with a stress fracture in the fibula of his left leg, discovered the Monday prior to Christmas. He had averaged 7.5 points off the bench for the Jackets, and has missed the last four games.
Defense Progresses Over Break
Head coach Paul Hewitt has noted steady improvement from Georgia Tech’s defense over the last four games since a 91-78 loss at Georgia on Dec. 7. Tech’s scoring yield over those four games has declined each time, from 72 against Tennessee State to a season low of 46 last time out against Bethune-Cookman.
Over the four-game stretch, Tech has blocked an average of 5.8 shots and taken 8.5 steals per game, and forced 20 turnovers a game. The Yellow Jackets have outrebounded their four foes 172-113, a per-game advantage of 14.8.
The four foes collectively have shot 36.3 percent, including 29.1 percent in the last two games. From three-point range, the last four opponents have made 32.2 percent, the last two only 20.5 percent.
