Georgia Tech Begins Homestand vs. Wake Forest

Georgia Tech vs. Wake Forest

Wednesday, January 19, 2022 | 7 p.m. ET | Atlanta, Ga. | McCamish Pavilion

Television:  ESPNU

Play-by-Play:  Anish Shroff  |  Analyst: Jordan Cornette

Radio: Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports (In Atlanta: 680 AM/93.7 The Fan | XM 381, SiriusXM app 971 | Listen Online | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets App | TuneIn

Play-by-Play: Andy Demetra  |  Analyst: Randy Waters

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THE FLATS – Home for its next four games, Georgia Tech begins that stretch by entertaining a much-improved Wake Forest team for a 7 p.m. Atlantic Coast Conference tip Wednesday at McCamish Pavilion.

Tech (7-9, 1-5 ACC) looks to rebound from an 88-65 loss Saturday at North Carolina and win for the second time in three games. The Yellow Jackets dropped their first four ACC games, including home contests against the Tar Heels, Louisville and Notre Dame, before scoring an 81-76 victory at Boston College last Wednesday.

Reigning ACC Tournament MVP Michael Devoe (Orlando, Fla.), the ACC’s third-leading scorer (19.3 points per game), No. 6 three-point shooter by volume (2.40 per game) and No. 2 by percentage (40.4), leads the Jackets along with senior forward Jordan Usher (Canton, Ga.), averaging 15.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

Wake Forest (14-4, 4-3 ACC) has won three of its last four games, including a 63-55 triumph Saturday at Virginia. The Demon Deacons also defeated Florida State and Syracuse during that stretch around a loss at Duke. Two of Wake’s four ACC wins have come on the road, including an 80-61 decision at Virginia Tech in December. The Deacons are tied for sixth place with Louisville and Virginia in the ACC standings.

Wednesday’s game will be televised live on ESPNU, with a live stream of the broadcast available through the ESPN app. Radio coverage will be on the Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports and flagship station WCNN (680/93.7 the Fan), and on satellite radio (XM channel 381, SiriusXM app 971).

THE OPENING TIP

• Rescheduled – Georgia Tech has added a non-conference game against Clayton State for this Sunday (5 p.m., Jan. 23), filling the bye in its ACC schedule and replacing the Dec. 21 game against Alabama A&M that was postponed. That gives the Yellow Jackets’ a stretch of four straight home games beginning Wednesday night vs. Wake Forest. The ACC has also rescheduled Tech’s postponed ACC game at Syracuse for Monday, Feb 21 at 7 p.m. (was originally scheduled for Dec. 29). That will give the Jackets three conference games in a five-day stretch (Feb. 19 at Pitt, Feb. 21 at Syracuse, Feb. 23 vs. Virginia Tech).
• Bobbleheads and Red Panda– Georgia Tech is offering a bobblehead giveaway to all students who attend Wednesday night’s game. The bobblehead depicts head coach Josh Pastner complete with face shield, holding the 2021 ACC Championship trophy. World famous Red Panda also returns to McCamish Pavilion to perform at halftime.
• At home – Georgia Tech is looking for its first conference win at home after an 0-3 start at McCamish Pavilion, where the Yellow Jackets are 5-5 overall this season. Wake Forest is 2-2 on the road this season, all of those games in conference.
• Small ball – Head coach Josh Pastner has started a lineup without a true “5” player in its last two games at Boston College and North Carolina, with Georgia Tech’s tallest starters being Jordan Usher and Khalid Moore, both 6-foot-7. The seventh different lineup used by Tech this season produced the Yellow Jackets’ first ACC win and their most efficient offensive performance in 11 games with their 81-76 win at Boston College.
• Over a thousand – Senior Jordan Usher cleared the 1,000-point milestone for his career when he scored 22 points Saturday at North Carolina. He has 1,008 points, 734 of them scored in a Tech uniform, giving Tech three 1,000-point scorers on its roster, including Michael Devoe (1,436) and Bubba Parham (1,452).
• Hot streak – Usher notched his fourth 20-point game of the season Saturday with 22 points at North Carolina, and the 6-7 wing is averaging 17 points and 7.2 rebounds over Tech’s last eight games, having hit 50-of-102 shots from the floor (49 percent) and 14-of-32 threes (43.8 percent).
• Mikey likes it – Senior guard Michael Devoe fell from the top spot in the ACC in scoring average for the first time this season after his 13-point game at Boston College, and dropped to No. 3 (19.3 ppg) after being held to two points at North Carolina. Devoe is No. 2 in the ACC in three-point percentage (40.4) and No. 6 in three-point field goals per game (2.40).
• Climbing the ladder – After beginning the season No. 36 in career points at Tech, Devoe has risen to No. 19 on the Tech career points list with 1,438 points, passing such Tech luminaries as Iman Shumpert, Drew Barry, Jarrett Jack, Michael Maddox, Tico Brown, Marvin Lewis, Anthony Morrow, Lenny Horton and former teammate Jose Alvarado. The senior needs 22 points to take over 18th place from Jim Wood (1,459 from 1974-77).
• Getting Moore done – Senior forward Khalid Moore has averaged 6.9 points over Tech’s last 10 games, after scoring a total of 23 points in the Jackets’ first six games of the season. He has hit 26-of-54 from the floor over that stretch.
• Good to the last drop – Tristan Maxwell became the 13th player in Georgia Tech history to drain seven or more three-point field goals in an ACC game when he dropped seven Wednesday night at Boston College. He did so in his fourth career game, not having made a three-pointer in the first three.

SERIES NOTES VS. WAKE FOREST

• Georgia Tech has a 46-40 lead in the all-time series and a 45-38 lead in games played since it became a member of the ACC. That is the best winning percentage that the Yellow Jackets have against any of the pre-expansion members of the conference.
• Tech has won 11 of the last 14 meetings between the two teams, capturing the last five meetings in the series, including a season sweep of the teams’ two regular-season meetings during the 2020-21 season, 70-54 in Atlanta and 75-63 in Winston-Salem.
• Tech has won its last 14 games against Wake Forest at home, dating back to an 80-76 Demon Deacon win on Feb. 22, 2004 when both teams were ranked in the top 20. The Jackets won the last seven meetings in Alexander Memorial Coliseum, a 69-62 decision at Philips Arena during the 2011-12 season, and all six meetings so far at McCamish Pavilion.
• Tech was 24-9 against Wake Forest in games played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, and is 31-9 against the Demon Deacons in Atlanta.
• Tech made a sweep of the season series in 2010-11, setting school records in each game for margin of victory in an ACC game (74-39 at home on Jan. 19) and for margin of victory in an ACC road game (80-54 on Mar. 3, broken in 2021). The Jackets also swept the Demon Deacons in 2012-13.
• Tech has won its last two games at the Joel Coliseum, and has one of its better records in an opponent’s building at 10-20. Tech’s 2020 win snapped a three-game losing streak in the building. Tech is 14-27 against Wake Forest on the road, including a 2-3 mark in regular-season games played in Greensboro and a 2-4 mark in games played in Winston-Salem prior to the opening of Joel Coliseum.
• Tech is 43-29 against Wake Forest since 1985, including 12 straight victories from 1985-91.
• Tech is 5-2 against Wake Forest under Josh Pastner. Demon Deacons’ coach Steve Forbes is 1-2 against the Jackets, having led his East Tennessee State team to a 69-68 victory over the Jackets in Atlanta during his first season with the Buccaneers on Nov. 15, 2015.
• Wake Forest has won all four of its meetings with Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament, including a 75-74 triumph in the 1996 championship game in Greensboro. Wake Forest took the 2007 first round meeting, winning 114-112 in double-overtime, the highest-scoring game in ACC Tournament history and the highest-scoring game for Tech involving an ACC opponent in its history.

Views from above#TogetherWeSwarm pic.twitter.com/388ZhUT8oH

— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) January 18, 2022

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