Jordan Usher scored 13 points (5-7 FG) with six rebounds when Tech last visited Conte Forum two years ago. (photo by Danny Karnik)
It applies to every ACC game. But only on select occasions does it get the vaunted Josh Pastner Public Proclamation™.
“It’s a guard’s game,” Pastner said of Wednesday’s matchup.
As Georgia Tech’s head coach sees it, the backcourts will likely dictate the run of play in Chestnut Hill. With head coach Earl Grant running the show after a successful stint at the College of Charleston, Boston College’s top three scorers this year are all guards. Six-foot-3 Makai Ashton-Langford (12.4 ppg) reads screens well and has a gliding, finesse floor game that Pastner compares favorably to former Eagle Jerome Robinson. His younger brother, 6-5 sophomore Demarr Langford (11.4 ppg) gives him a quick, rangy complement, while junior college transfer Jaeden Zackery (10.8 ppg) is a selective sniper who has made 51 percent of his threes. Boston College also counts on 6-2 Brevin Galloway (7.3 ppg), who followed Grant from Charleston, for scoring punch and defense off the bench. Most of the Eagles’ ending action involves a ball screen.
The Jackets allowed 62 points and five three-pointers in regulation to Notre Dame. Prior to that they allowed 69 points against a Duke team that averaged an ACC-high 85.3 per game. They missed out on some timely stops in both, but Pastner believed their defense was good enough to win. Among the keys for Tech Wednesday: deny fly–bys to BC’s guards, either off screens or pump fakes, and play with physicality in the post.
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From the Department of Symmetry: Georgia Tech has shot a nearly identical field goal percentage – down to the tenth of a percentage point – in its last two trips to Conte Forum.
- 2017-18 – 50.9% (29 of 57)
- 2019-20 – 50.9% (27 of 53)
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How else can Georgia Tech get out of its offensive quicksand in the second half? Stop a mystifying drought from three-point range dating back to the Wisconsin game:
Georgia Tech 3pt.% – Last 8 games
- 1st Half: 43.4% (33 of 76)
- 2nd Half: 19.2% (15 of 78)
Boston College borrows a lot of Clemson-style defensive principles, a product of Grant’s time as an assistant to Brad Brownell. Look for the Eagles to help hard from the weak side, dig liberally in their man-to-man, and shrink the floor in the halfcourt. They also play a 1-1-3 zone that’s styled somewhat after Georgia Tech’s matchup zone.
“I think we’ve influenced a lot of people with our zone,” Pastner said on his radio show.
Pastner has talked to his players this week about playing with “burst and energy,” which could be critical given the relative dearth of second chances against BC – the Eagles rank 11th nationally in defensive rebounding percentage (21.9 pct.). Pay attention to Jordan Meka, who has quietly grabbed eight offensive rebounds since moving into the starting lineup three games ago.
