Georgia Tech Basketball Travels to Boston College

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THE FLATS – Playing its third road game in the last four, Georgia Tech continues Atlantic Coast Conference play Saturday evening at Boston College. Tip time is 6 p.m. at the Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Georgia Tech update (7-8, 2-3 ACC) – In its fourth season under head coach Josh Pastner, Tech is 3-3 in its last six games, including two wins in three games to capture third place at the Diamond Head Classic. The Yellow Jackets fell below .500 in the ACC and overall Wednesday night with a 73-64 loss at home to No. 2 Duke. Tech has won both of its ACC road games this season, 82-81 in overtime at NC State and 96-83 at North Carolina.

Boston College update (9-6, 3-1 ACC) – In its sixth season under head coach Jim Christian, Boston College is in a four-way tie for second place in the ACC, a game behind Duke, following its 60-53 homecourt victory over No. 18 Virginia Tuesday night. The Eagles opened the 2019-20 season by defeating Wake Forest at home, and also defeated Notre Dame in South Bend on Dec. 7. The Eagles have won four of their last five games.

Broadcast information – Live coverage on the ACC Network, online streaming available through the ESPN app. Radio coverage by Learfield IMG College (680 AM and 93.7 FM the Fan in Atlanta, TuneIn app). Tech broadcast available on satellite radio (XM ch. 389, internet ch. 979).

Coach Pastner audio from Friday

Michael Devoe audio from Friday

 

THE TIPOFF

• On the road again – Saturday’s game is Georgia Tech’s fifth away from home in the last six, including three games in the Diamond Head Classic and ACC road games at Florida State and North Carolina before Wednesday night’s home loss to Duke.
• More snacks? – A win at Boston College would be Tech’s third ACC road win this season, something the Yellow Jackets haven’t done since the 2015-16 season.
• Full deck – Georgia Tech has had its full roster available for only its last six games, beginning with the first game of the Diamond Head Classic on Dec. 22. Junior forward Jordan Usher became eligible for the Yellow Jackets’ Dec. 18 game against Ball State, and junior point guard Jose Alvarado played for the first time since Nov. 20 in the Jackets’ 74-60 win over Boise State in Hawai’i.
• Remain calm, all is well – Tech has used five different lineups this season, but has sent the same five out for the opening tip in each of the six games since the return of Jose Alvarado, producing a 3-3 record with it.
• Offense for defense – Georgia Tech ranks fourth in the ACC in scoring average in conference games (72.60) and 14th in scoring defense (80.80), a reversal of last year’s final rankings (15th scoring offense, 7th scoring defense).
• All-for-ado – Georgia Tech has averaged 70.2 points and shot 45 percent from the floor in the six games since Jose Alvarado returned to the court. That includes a 96-83 win last Saturday at North Carolina in which the Yellow Jackets hit 59 percent from the floor.
• Big miss – Jose Alvarado has averaged 12.7 points, 4.5 assists and 3.0 steals in six games since his return from an ankle injury which sidelined him for seven games. He ranks No. 3 in the ACC in assists (6.25 pg) and is No. 1 in steals (2.75 pg) in conference games only.
• Ushering in – Jordan Usher made his debut for the Yellow Jackets Dec. 18 against Ball State after sitting out the required two semesters after he transferred from Southern California last January. The 6-7 junior guard/forward has averaged 8.3 points and 3.3 rebounds, hitting 38.2 percent of his shots from the floor and 14-of-15 from the free throw line.
• Wright stuff – Moses Wright has scored in double digits in six straight games, averaging 16.7 points and 8.2 rebounds while hitting 53.9 percent of his shots from the floor. The 6-9 junior ranks No. 3 in the ACC in field goal percentage (54.3) and No. 7 in rebound average (8.1).
• Crack that whip – Michael Devoe ranks fifth in the ACC in scoring (16.6 ppg), and seventh in field goal percentage (44.8). He also is No. 3 in minutes played (35.3). The 6-5 guard has hit 44 percent of his three-pointers in ACC games.
• No ducking – Georgia Tech’s schedule is the second-strongest among power conference teams according to KenPom.com behind Kansas, and No. 2 overall. Tech’s schedule included six power conference teams in its first 10 games, including road games at NC State, Georgia and Kentucky, and home games against Arkansas and Nebraska along with the ACC schedule. The Jackets’ non-conference schedule rates seventh-toughest among power conference teams, 45th overall.

SERIES VS. BOSTON COLLEGE

• Georgia Tech leads the all-time series with Boston College, 14-12, and won the teams’ only meeting of the 2018-19 regular season, 81-78 in overtime in Atlanta.
• Boston College has won three of the four ACC Tournament meetings between the two schools, and each time the tournament result has mirrored the regular-season outcome.
• Ten of the games in the short series have been decided by less than 10 points, 14 of them by four points or less, and five in overtime.
• Tech is 6-2 against the Eagles at home, earning the last five wins on three different home courts – one each at Alexander Memorial Coliseum and Philips Arena and two at McCamish Pavilion. Tech’s 2017 victory was vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.
• Tech has played BC at three different venues in the Boston area. The Jan. 29, 2005 game was Tech’s first visit to the Conte Forum, BC’s current home court, where the Jackets are 3-6. The first game in the series on Dec. 31, 1946, was played at Boston Arena, and the teams also played in the Boston Garden on Jan. 19, 1980.
• Prior to BC’s entry into the ACC, the teams met four times on neutral floors, including one outside the United States, a 65-62 overtime win for the Yellow Jackets in the 1986 Suntory Ball in Tokyo, Japan.
• The teams have met twice in NCAA Tournament competition, both of them won by Tech. The Yellow Jackets downed the Eagles, 103-89, in the 1996 Southeast Regional second round in Orlando, and eliminated the Eagles, 57-54 in a 2004 second-round game in Milwaukee.

Jose Alvarado has racked up 43 points and 13 assists in Tech’s last two games. (photo by Danny Karnik)

 

WHAT’S TRENDING

• Georgia Tech ranks No. 27 in defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com (90.2 points per 100 possessions), No. 44 nationally in effective defensive field goal percentage (45.2) and 43rd in two-point field goal defense (44.0).
• Since the beginning of last season, Tech has held 25 opponents, including nine ACC opponents, under 40 percent from the floor. Seven Tech opponents this season have shot under 40 percent, including Hawai’i and Boise State in the Diamond Head Classic. Tech limited its three foes in the Diamond Head Classic to 38.4 percent from the floor collectively.
• The Jackets have limited 21 opponents, nine in the ACC, to 30 percent or less from three-point range in the same time frame. Seven Tech opponents have shot under 30 percent from three this season. Tech limited its three foes in the Diamond Head Classic to 22 percent from behind the arc collectively.
• Tech has held five opponents to their lowest offensive efficiency of the season, including two of its foes in Hawai’i – Elon, Arkansas, Nebraska, Boise State and Hawai’i.
• Georgia Tech’s adjusted tempo is 70.9 possessions per game according to KenPom.com (105th in the nation), well ahead of the 66.1 possessions per game last season and 66.8 in 2016-17. Game-by-game, Tech has played less than 70 possessions just five times and has exceeded 100 points/100 possessions five times, including a season high of 132.2 at North Carolina.
• Tech has reached 70 possessions per game over the course of a full season only four times since 1997, the first year KenPom kept track – 1997-98 (72.3), 2000-01 (72.1), 2001-02 (70.5) and 2008-09 (70.5).
• Two fouls in the first half? No problem. Georgia Tech ranks No. 1 in the nation, according to KenPom.com, in 2-foul participation, a measure of percentage of available minutes played by players with two fouls (66.8 pct. for Tech). The Jackets led the nation in this category in 2018-19, was fourth in 2017-18 and 35th in 2016-17.
• Tech is 4-4 away from home this season, 3-4 at home.
• Tech has trailed at halftime in 12 of its 15 games this season, coming back to win four of those games. The Jackets are 14-48 when trailing at the half under Josh Pastner.
• Tech’s game against Duke was the 20th sellout in the seven-plus-year history of McCamish Pavilion.
• Tech took 16 offensive rebounds in the game, a season high, and converted a season-best 14 second-chance points from them.
• Tech hit 13-of-15 shots from the free throw line against Duke and has connected on 86-of-112 (75.2 pct.) in its last six games. Tech has hit the 70-percent mark in its last six straight games after missing that mark in eight straight games prior to its trip to Hawai’i.
• Tech has hit 19-of-52 three-point attempts in its last three games (36.5 percent). The Jackets have hit 34.7 percent from distance in ACC games.
• Tech began the season hitting 21-of-63 in its first three games (33.3 percent). In the nine games in between, Tech connected on just 36-of-149 attempts (24.2 percent).
• Tech has averaged 15.5 turnovers over its last six games since the return of Jose Alvarado, compared with 17.4 prior to that. With Alvarado on the floor this year, Tech has averaged 15.8 turnovers, compared with 18.6 in the seven games in which he was absent.

James Banks III posted his fourth double-double this season with 14 points and a career-best 15 rebounds against Duke. (photo by Danny Karnik)

 

PERSONNEL TRENDS

• James Banks III has averaged 12.4 points and 8.8 rebounds against ACC teams this season, hitting 53.3 percent of his shots from the floor.
• Banks’ notched his fourth double-double this season against Duke with 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. It was his first double-double since Dec. 1 vs. Bethune-Cookman, and the 11th of his career.
• Banks blocked seven Duke shots, the most by any player against Duke since 2016, and one off his career high of eight set against Bethune-Cookman on Dec. 1. He remains No. 2 in the ACC at 3.07 per game.
• Moses Wright posted his fifth double-double this season with 12 points and 10 rebounds. The last four have come against Kentucky, Houston, Florida State and Duke.
• Wright has scored in double figures in six consecutive games, averaging a team-high 16.7 points and 8.2 rebounds over that stretch while hitting 53.2 percent of his shots from the floor. The 6-9 junior ranks No. 2 in the ACC in field goal percentage (54.0) and No. 7 in rebound average (8.1).
• Wright is Tech’s high scorer and rebounder in ACC games at 15.2 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, and he has hit 48.6 percent of his shots from the floor against the league.
• Jose Alvarado has averaged 21.5 points over his last two games against North Carolina (25) and Duke (18), with 13 assists and eight steals. He has hit 15-of-24 shots from the floor and 6-of-10 from three-point range.
• Bubba Parham hit a pair of three-point field goals in three attempts and scored six points with a career-high six rebounds in 24:46 off the bench. He is 8-of-17 from the floor in his last four games, 4-of-8 on threes. All five of his double-figure games this season have come against power-conference foes (Georgia, Arkansas, Syracuse, Kentucky and North Carolina).

Alexander-Tharpe Fund

The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the A-T Fund’s Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes, and Athletics Initiative 2020, Georgia Tech athletics’ ongoing $125 million initiative to allow Tech to recruit the nation’s most elite student-athletes, build a better student-athlete once they arrive on The Flats and, ultimately, win! To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.   

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL

Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is in its fourth year under head coach Josh Pastner. Tech has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won three ACC Championships (1985, 1990, 1993), 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 (@GTMBB) and Instagram. For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com.

Season tickets for men’s basketball can be purchased here.