Jan. 17, 2014
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THE FLATS – Closing out its three-game homestand with a Saturday matinee, Georgia Tech hosts defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion Miami with a 2 p.m. regionally-televised game at McCamish Pavilion.
The ACC’s Regional Sports Network will provide regional coverage of the game. Radio coverage of the game will be provided by the Georgia Tech IMG Sports Network and can be heard in Atlanta on WYAY-FM (106.7). The Tech radio broadcast can be heard nationally on satellite radio (Sirius ch. 108, XM ch. 192).
Tech brings an 8-2 homecourt record into Saturday’s game, following Tuesday night’s 81-74 loss to No. 21 Pittsburgh, and is looking for its first home win against the Hurricanes since the 2010-11 season.
In its third season under head coach Brian Gregory, Tech has continued to improve offensively while maintaining its solid defense and excellent rebounding. The Yellow Jackets’ 70.7 points per game average this season is their highest under Gregory by more than six points. Defensively, Tech ranks 85th nationally in scoring yield (67.7 ppg) and 44th in field goal percentage defense (40.7 pct.) while also outrebounding 14 of 16 opponents this season.
Miami (9-7, 1-3 ACC) comes to Atlanta on the heels of a 63-53 home loss to Florida State Wednesday night. The Hurricanes, who have also lost to Virginia Tech and Syracuse in conference play, have a 4-2 road record this season, including their only ACC win at North Carolina.
After Saturday, Tech will play four of its next five games on the road, beginning with a 9 p.m. game at Boston College Tuesday.
Fast Break Points
• Georgia Tech is looking for its first homecourt win against Miami since March 6, 2011, when the Yellow Jackets closed out a 55-year run in Alexander Memorial Coliseum with a 66-57 victory. Since then, the Hurricanes have beaten Tech twice at Philips Arena and once at McCamish Pavilion.
• Tech played Pittsburgh Tuesday night with just eight scholarship players, competing without four members of the team who had combined for 22 starts and were key parts of the rotation at the start of pre-season practice – forward Robert Carter, Jr., swingman Jason Morris, and guards Travis Jorgenson and Solomon Poole. (More details below)
• Marcus Georges-Hunt and Chris Bolden were the heroes of last year’s Tech win over Miami, ranked No. 6 at the time, in Coral Gables. Bolden scored a career-high 21 points, and Georges-Hunt scored the game-winning basket, tipping in his own miss, as time expired. Tech rallied from 13 points down in the second half, it’s biggest second-half rally to win a game under Brian Gregory.
• Tech has out-rebounded 14 of 16 opponents this season. Duke and Pittsburgh are the only teams to win the boards against the Yellow Jackets.
• Ten of the 15 ACC schools are ranked higher than Tech’s current No. 133 (as of Friday), and six of those are in the top 68. Miami will be the 10th top-100 team Tech has faced.
Series vs. Miami
• Georgia Tech snapped a three-game losing streak in the series with a 71-69 victory over 6th-ranked Miami in Coral Gables on March 6 of last season, earning a split in the season series. The Hurricanes had won the first meeting of the season in Atlanta, 62-49 and maintains a 10-7 lead in the overall series.
• The March 6 victory was only the second win for Tech at the BankUnited Center and first since Feb. 26, 2005. It also was Tech’s first win over a top-10 team on the road since the 2003-04 season.
• After winning the first two meetings with Miami after the Hurricanes became members of the ACC, Tech has dropped nine of the last 12. Miami won the only regular-season meeting between the two teams in 2011-12, as well as their ACC Tournament meeting, both games at Philips Arena.
• Miami was the opponent for Tech in its last game at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, a game the Yellow Jackets won 66-57 to close out the 2010-11 regular season. Tech won four of six games against the Hurricanes in the building.
• Eleven of the 17 meetings have been decided by 10 points or less.
• The last meeting between the two schools prior to Miami’s joining the ACC occurred in December of 1997 as part of the Orange Bowl Classic doubleheader at Miami Arena, the Hurricanes’ home court until the team moved into the on-campus Convocation Center last year. The Yellow Jackets, led that year by senior forward Matt Harpring, won that game, 69-61.
• Tech played Miami twice under former head coach Whack Hyder, losing the first-ever meeting in the series by 22 points in 1953, then taking a six-point homecourt victory in 1967. That was the only pre-ACC visit by the Hurricanes to Alexander Memorial Coliseum, and the 90-84 Tech win has been the highest scoring game in the brief series.
About Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is in its third year under head coach Brian Gregory. The Yellow Jackets have been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won three ACC Championships, played in the NCAA Tournament 16 times and played in two Final Fours (1990, 2004).
Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball on social media by liking their Facebook Page, or following on Twitter (@GTMBK). For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
