March 7, 2003
ATLANTA – Fresh off its first road victory of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference Wednesday night at Virginia, Georgia Tech looks to gather momentum heading into next week’s ACC Tournament in Greensboro when its hosts Clemson Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Saturday’s game, which is the final regular season contest for both teams, is being regionally televised by ABC (WSB-TV, Ch. 2 in Atlanta). Radio coverage is provided by the Georgia Tech-ISP Network, airing in Atlanta on WQXI-AM (790), WMGP-FM (98.1) and WSNY-FM (100.1).
Tech, 13-13 overall and 6-9 in the ACC, is alone in fifth place following the Yellow Jackets’ victory and losses by North Carolina and Clemson (15-11, 5-10) on Wednesday. Clemson, North Carolina and Virginia are tied for sixth place at 5-10.
A Tech victory Saturday would clinch the fifth seed for the Jackets in the upcoming ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C., and a 2:30 p.m. first-round game next Friday against NC State. If Clemson wins Saturday and creates a tie with the Yellow Jackets for fifth place, Tech must wait until North Carolina and Virginia play Sunday to determine its seeding for the tournament.
A Clemson win would give the Tigers a sweep of the season series and an advantage over the Jackets in the tie-breaking procedures. North Carolina and Virginia could join that deadlock by winning their games Sunday.
Tech, which has finished in a fifth-place tie each of the past two years, would finish alone in fifth with a win Saturday. It would also give Tech a 7-9 record in the conference, same as last year, and a 22-26 mark over Paul Hewitt’s three seasons on the Flats, better than any three-year period for Tech since 1994-95-96.
A win Saturday would also guarantee Tech a .500 record for the season.
Georgia Tech’s starting lineup includes 6-3 freshman Jarrett Jack at the point, 6-4 junior Marvin Lewis and 6-4 sophomore B.J. Elder on the wings, and 6-8 sophomore Ed Nelson and 6-10 freshman Chris Bosh in the frontcourt. Bosh and Jack are the only Tech players to start every game this season.
This lineup has started eight games together this season, including seven of the last eight. Nelson did not start Wednesday’s game at Virginia due to a mild concussion suffered in last Monday’s practice, however he entered the game within three minutes of the tip and played 28 minutes, scoring 11 points with six rebounds.
Tech has three players ranked among the ACC’s top 15 in scoring, led by Bosh, Tech’s ACC Rookie of the Year candidate, who ranks eighth in the ACC in scoring at 15.3 points per game, leads the ACC in field goal percentage (56.4) and blocked shots (2.15 per game) and is second in rebounding (8.9). Bosh, who notched his 11th double-double of the season last Saturday at North Carolina (17 points, 10 rebounds), scored 13 against the Cavaliers Wednesday despite foul trouble that limited him to 20 minutes.
Elder and Lewis form one of the league’s top three-point shooting tandems. Elder, who scored 10 points with six assists at Virginia Wednesday, ranks ninth in the conference at 15.0 points a game overall, seventh in overall field goal percentage at 45.7 percent, and seventh in the league in three-point percentage (39.2). Lewis, who scored 19 against Virginia Wednesday, ranks 15th in the ACC overall at 12.9 points per game and is fifth in three-point percentage (40.6). He has averaged more than 18 points in ACC games this season.
Jack, Tech’s fourth-leading scorer at 9.7 points along with 6.0 assists (fourth in the ACC), has given the Jackets another scoring threat of late, averaging 13.6 points over his last 10 games and 11.7 against the league. He scored a career-best 21 Wednesday night at Virginia. Nelson, the ACC’s seventh-leading rebounder at 7.0 per game along with 8.5 points a game, has averaged 15.0 points in Tech’s last three games.
Tech gets reserve help in the post from Schenscher, averaging 4.2 points and 3.3 rebounds while hitting 47.8 percent of his shots. Isma’il Muhammad, a 6-6 sophomore forward averaging 5.6 points and 3.6 rebounds, and Anthony McHenry, a 6-7 sophomore averaging 2.0 points and 1.5 rebounds, provide excellent defense on the wing.
Theodis Tarver (1.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg), a 6-9 freshman, and Robert Brooks (0.8 ppg, 1.1 rpg), a 6-8 junior, have given the Jackets a lift in the last week with key minutes off the bench in the post, while Jim Nystr?m, a 6-4 freshman from Sweden, has averaged 1.2 points in limited play as a backcourt reserve.
BOBBY CREMINS DAY
Georgia Tech will celebrate “Bobby Cremins Day” Saturday as the legendary former Yellow Jacket basketball coach will return to Alexander Memorial Coliseum at McDonald’s Center to be honored following Tech’s final home game against Clemson.
Governor Sonny Perdue has proclaimed Saturday, March 8 as “Bobby Cremins Day” throughout the state of Georgia. The court at Alexander Memorial Coliseum will be named “Cremins Court” and a banner will be hung from the rafters in Cremins’ honor. Many of Cremins’ former Yellow Jacket stars will be on hand for the festivities, including Mark Price, Dennis Scott, Tom Hammonds, Kenny Anderson and Craig Neal.
Tech’s winningest basketball coach and the third winningest coach in Atlantic Coast Conference history, Cremins compiled a record of 354-237 in his 19 seasons on the Flats, highlighted by three ACC titles, 10 NCAA berths and a trip to the NCAA Final Four in 1990. Cremins thrust Georgia Tech basketball into the national spotlight with a long line of great players, including six all-Americas, eight ACC Rookie of the Year honorees and 12 NBA first-round draft picks.
The Bronx, N.Y., native retired from coaching following the 1999-00 season with a career record of 454-307 and is now a television analyst.
TECH VS. CLEMSON
*Clemson won the first meeting with Georgia Tech this season on Feb. 5 by a score of 69-67 at Littlejohn Coliseum, evening the all-time series between the two teams at 50-50.
*Tech and Clemson split the regular-season series last season. The Tigers defeated Tech, 83-76, at Alexander Memorial Coliseum on Jan. 5, while the Jackets returned the favor, 74-50, on Feb. 6 at Littlejohn Coliseum.
*Tech has an all-time record of 35-17 against the Tigers at home, including 21-12 record at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Clemson won last year’s game in Atlanta, 83-76, but the Jackets won the previous four meetings in the Thrillerdome and have won 15 of 20 against the Tigers at home since 1983.
*A win for Tech Saturday would give the two teams a split of the season series for the 14th time in the last 16 years. The Jackets swept the season series from the Tigers in 2000-01 for the first time since the 1985-86 season. Clemson earned a sweep in the 1996-97 season.
*The 100 all-time meetings are 28 more than Tech has with any other ACC member. The home team has won 26 of the last 32 regular-season meetings.
THE COMFORTS OF HOME
Georgia Tech is 11-2 at home this season, having lost its last two games against Wake Forest and Duke after winning 13 in a row dating back to last season. The Yellow Jackets’ home wins include then-No. 17 Georgia in the second game of the campaign on Nov. 27 and ACC wins over NC State, Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia and No. 8 Maryland. The Yellow Jackets have won 15 of their last 18 at home.
The Yellow Jackets have averaged 81.2 points per game at home this season and outscored their guests by an average of 14.1 points. Tech has shot 47.1 percent from the floor and 44.1 percent from three-point range at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, while holding its guests to 41.1 percent overall.
*In ACC home games: Tech has outscored its foes by an average margin of 7.1 points a game, outshot them 47.1 percent to 43.6 percent overall, and 46.6 percent to 36.9 percent from three-point range. Tech has a rebound margin of plus-1.5, and has made 76.8 percent of its free throws.
TECH HAS MOST BIG WINS IN ITS ACC HISTORY
Further underscoring the gradual improvement of the Georgia Tech program under Paul Hewitt has been the big win factor. The Yellow Jackets have beaten three ACC teams –NC State, North Carolina and Virginia — by 20 or more points this season, the most 20-point conference wins in one year since Tech joined the ACC.
Tech had two 20-point wins last season (Florida State, Clemson) and one in 2000-01 (Clemson), for a total of six in Hewitt’s two-plus seasons. In its entire ACC history before Hewitt’s arrival, Tech had a grand total of seven wins of 20 or more points in conference play.
Tech’s 90-73 win at Virginia Wednesday was one of its biggest wins on the road ever against an ACC team, and represented the second-largest margin of victory on the road against an ACC foe under Hewitt. The biggest was the Jackets’ 74-50 win at Clemson last season.
TECH REVERSES OFFENSIVE WOES
Georgia Tech’s biggest problem over its five-game losing streak has been scoring. The Yellow Jackets averaged just 62.4 points per game over the stretch, nearly 12 points under their seasonal average, and shot 40.3 percent from the floor and 32.0 percent from three-point range.
Tech did a much better job of getting the ball inside against North Carolina and Virginia, however, and the result was a 50-percent shooting mark against the Tar Heels and 54.7 percent against Virginia. It is the first time Tech has shot 50 percent in consecutive games since late in the 2000-01 season (vs. Wake Forest and NC State). Tech’s 90 points at Virginia matched its best for a conference game this year and was its highest score in an ACC road game since Jan. 24, 2001 at Clemson.
Tech scored 88 of its 156 points in the two games in the paint, including 52 against the Cavaliers (best since Tech’s season opener), and got 27 points from the bench against the Tar Heels, the best effort for the Jackets’ reserves since Dec. 1.
TRIO FUELS TECH OFFENSE
When Georgia Tech has B.J. Elder, Chris Bosh and Marvin Lewis going at the same time, the Yellow Jackets have been hard to stop. The trio has accounted for 57.0 percent of the Yellow Jackets’ scoring this season, a total of 43.2 points a game, and have combined to make 48.4 percent of their field goal tries, 41.2 percent of their three-point tries, and 73.9 percent of their free throws.
In Tech’s ACC wins, their contributions are greater, as you might expect, accounting for 62.0 percent of Tech’s points. In Tech’s conference victories, they have shot 54.0 percent from the floor, 48.6 percent from three-point range, and 79.8 percent from the free throw line.
They are the highest scoring trio for Tech since 1997-98, when Matt Harpring, Michael Maddox and Dion Glover combined to average 53.2 of Tech’s 76.3 points a game (69.7 percent).
All three players rank among the top 15 in the ACC in scoring average. Bosh and Elder rank first and seventh, respectively, in field goal percentage. Lewis and Elder rank fifth and seventh in three-point percentage (39.9 percent combined) and rank fifth and ninth in three-pointers made per game (4.19 combined). The last Tech player to lead the conference was Travis Best (45.7 in 1993).
Tech is 7-4 this season when all three score in double figures, and against only Marist (a 67-53 win) have two of the three failed to reach double figures.
TOEING THE LINE
From the beginning of the season, when Georgia Tech shot 49 free throws in its first game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the Yellow Jackets have been the aggressor most of the time when it comes to getting to the free throw line.
Tech has attempted more free throws than its opponent in 17 of 26 games so far (564-479 for the season) and ranks fourth in the ACC in number of free throws attempted in league games. If Tech finishes the season with more free throw attempts than its foes, it would be a first for the Jackets under Paul Hewitt.
The Jackets have also cashed in on their charity opportunities after a poor start this season. Tech has made 72.7 percent of its charity tosses (242-of-333) in the last 16 games.
Tech has connected on 73.2 percent in ACC games, the fourth-best figure among the league’s teams. Only Chris Bosh has enough free throws to make the league rankings (9th, 77.5 percent vs. the ACC), but Marvin Lewis (82.2 percent), Ed Nelson (78.8), Jarrett Jack (72.2), B.J. Elder (71.4) and Luke Schenscher (71.4) also have high percentages in league games.
THAT’S THE FACT, JACK
Freshman point guard Jarrett Jack has gradually become more effective directing the offense for Tech, but has elevated himself as a scoring threat in the month of February. Jack continued the trend by scoring a career-high 21 points (6-7 FG) with seven assists in Tech’s win at Virginia Wednesday.
The 6-3 freshman, named ACC Rookie of the Week once this season, has put together his best all-around stretch of the season in the Yellow Jackets’ last 10 games, averaging 13.4 points and 6.2 assists while connecting on 47 of 90 field goal attempts (52.2 percent) and 78.6 percent (44-of-56) from the free throw line.
He scored a then-career-high 20 points with eight assists against 8th-ranked Maryland on Feb. 9, canning his only three-point attempt with 39 seconds to go with Tech holding a slim 82-80 lead, and then added three free throws to help Tech seal the win.
Jack has 12 double-figure scoring efforts this season, and Tech is 9-3 in those games. He has also been the key factor in Tech’s ACC victories, averaging 14.0 points and 7.0 in those seven games while hitting 63.9 percent of his field goal attempts, 57.1 percent of this threes and 82.9 percent of his free throws.
In all conference games, Jack has averaged 11.7 points and 6.1 assists, while shooting 48.3 percent from the floor.
