Dec. 30, 2005
ATLANTA – ATLANTA – Coming off a disappointing loss at Air Force, Georgia Tech returns home for a pair of games at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, beginning with a 5 p.m. game New Year’s Eve contest Saturday against Bethune-Cookman.
The Yellow Jackets (5-4 overall, 1-0 ACC this season) lost 54-46 loss at Air Force Wednesday night, which snapped a two-game winning streak and was Tech’s lowest point total in six seasons under head coach Paul Hewitt. The Wildcats (4-6, 1-0 MEAC) are coming off a major victory (75-68) at South Florida Wednesday.
The game is not being televised, but is being broadcast on radio over the Georgia Tech/ISP Sports Network. Local radio coverage is in WQXI-AM (790), WTSH-FM (107.1) and WREK-FM (91.1).
Tech, which has a 496-167 all-time record at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, is within four wins of 500 in its home arena.
Saturday’s game marks the first-ever meeting between Georgia Tech and Bethune-Cookman in men’s basketball. The Yellow Jackets are 21-0 all-time against members of the Mideastern Athletic Conference. The last time Tech faced a member of the MEAC was in November of 2001, a 97-62 victory over Florida A&M. Tech head coach Paul Hewitt faced Bethune-Cookman twice as the head coach at Siena, winning both times.
After using the same starting lineup for the first five games, Hewitt will alter it for the third time in the last four games Saturday, this time due in part to injury.
Sophomore guard Zam Fredrick will return to the lineup in place of Paco Diaw, who has started the last two games, and freshman D’Andre Bell will make his first start in place of Mario West, who sustained a sprained left big toe Wednesday night 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., who is Tech’s top returning scorer from last season, leads the Jackets and ranks 10th in the ACC in scoring at 16.1 points a game. He has shot 44.4 percent from three-point range (2nd in the ACC) and is third in the conference in three-point field goals (2.67 per game). He is one of three Tech players averaging in double digits, including Smith (14.1) and Dickey (11.7).
Fredrick, a 6-0 sophomore from St. Matthews, S.C., has averaged 9.3 points, including four double-figure games, and 3.8 assists this season. Bell, a 6-5 wingman from Los Angeles, Calif., has averaged 21 minutes off the bench the last two games, scoring a career-best 12 points against Jacksonville on Dec. 22. He averages 3.0 points and 1.4 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 five games, averaging 17.0 points and 10.8 rebounds over that stretch. Fully recovered from a dislocated kneecap that sidelined him for 17 games last year, Smith leads the ACC in rebounding at 9.4 per game and leads the team with 18 steals (7th 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 55.6 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 Diaw, a 6-6 freshman from Dakar, Senegal. He has played nearly 12 minutes a game in his last three, energizing Tech offensively with four assists while playing good defense.
In the frontcourt, Dickey, a 6-9 sophomore from Clio, S.C., is shooting a team-high 57.1 percent from the floor and taking 6.7 rebounds per game. He has averaged 10.0 points and 8.0 rebounds off the bench in the last three games. Freshman Alade Aminu, a 6-9 player with good athletic ability and shot-blocking skills, has averaged 2.2 points and 1.7 rebounds.
