Jan. 23, 2004
ATLANTA –
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Georgia Tech’s 11th-ranked basketball team will attempt to win its fourth straight game Saturday when it travels to NC State for a 4 p.m. game against the Wolfpack at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C.
The game will be regionally televised on the Raycom/Jefferson-Pilot ACC network, and can be seen in Atlanta on WATL-TV (Ch. 36). Radio coverage is provided by the Georgia Tech/ISP Sports Network, and can be heard in Atlanta on WQXI-AM (790), and will also be broadcast over the American Forces Network.
Tech, 15-2, 3-1 in the ACC, is off to its best start in conference play since the 1995-96 season, and its overall record is its best since the 1985-86 campaign. The Yellow Jackets have won three straight conference games since a Jan. 11 loss at North Carolina, defeating Virginia (75-67), Maryland (81-71) and No. 10 Wake Forest (73-66). Tech defeated the Demon Deacons on the road Tuesday.
NC State, 10-4 overall and 3-1 in the ACC, suffered a 66-65 overtime loss at Boston College Tuesday night. The Wolfpack has conference wins over Virginia, Clemson and Florida State along with a loss to Duke.
The winner of Saturday’s game will take over second place in the ACC standings, one game behind Duke (5-0).
“They do a great job,” head coach Paul Hewitt said of the Wolfpack. “They are one of the few teams in the country that has a positive assist-turnover ratio. Every one of their starters has a positive ratio. We’re going to have to be patient. They will take us deep into the shot clock. We’re just going have to play solid defense for 30 seconds, and make sure we rebound the ball well.
“We need to get a lot of help to stop Julius Hodge. He’s having a fantastic year, and he is not a guy you can stop by yourself.”
Defensive pressure, both half-court and full-court, continues to be the catalyst for Tech and creates the offensive opportunities that have the Yellow Jackets averaging 80.8 points a game (third in the ACC, best in Paul Hewitt’s four years at Tech) and shooting 47.4 percent from the floor (second in the ACC).
The Jackets have allowed only five teams — Saint Louis, VCU, Georgia, North Carolina, Wake Forest — to shoot 40 percent this season, and have limited their opponents to 36.8 percent collectively and 26.4 percent from three-point range (both 1st in the ACC) while forcing 18.7 turnovers a game.
Tech is fourth in the ACC in scoring defense (61.5 points per game) and also ranks third nationally in field goal percentage defense.
Tech has showed its early-season form during its current three-game winning streak, limiting Virginia, Maryland and Wake Forest to a combined 37.1 percent from the floor and 28.3 percent from three-point range, while forcing 53 turnovers. The Yellow Jackets have also received big contributions from junior guard Will Bynum, who has scored 45 points in the last two games.
“Will coming off the bench and playing the way he has in the last two games has been a big lift for our basketball team,” said Hewitt. “That’s the type of team we have this year. There’s got to be somebody different every night that’s going to be able to step things up and help this team win.”
“Our defense has been good, our rebounds have been good, but his contributions have been very, very big the last two games.”
Four Tech players are averaging in double figures this season, led by 6-4 junior B.J. Elder at 14.8 points a game (6th in the ACC), 6-3 sophomore Jarrett Jack (12.9 ppg, 15th in the ACC), 6-4 senior Marvin Lewis (12.1 ppg, 18th in the ACC), and 6-6 junior Isma’il Muhammad (11.8 ppg, 22nd in the ACC).
Jack, Tech’s point guard, and Luke Schenscher, Tech’s 7-1 junior center, have started every game this season. Jack is third in the ACC in assist average (6.65 per game), third in steals (2.41 per game) and sixth in assist-turnover ratio (2.26-1), while shooting 49.3 percent from the floor. Schenscher averages 8.6 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds (12th in the ACC) while hitting 54.0 percent of his shots.
Elder, who matched his career high with 25 points at Georgia and added 16 against Virginia, ranks seventh in the ACC in scoring. He has hit 32.6 percent of his three-point attempts (9th in the ACC) but has struggled overall this season at 39.0 percent.
Muhammad, a 6-6 defensive whiz who has started the last three games for Tech, averages 11.8 points a game, fourth on the team, and would lead the ACC in field goal percentage (62.3) but falls four field goals short of qualifying for the rankings.
Clarence Moore, a 6-5 senior, averages 6.2 points and 4.9 rebounds for the season, and has hit 47.5 percent from three-point range and is second on the team with 23 steals.
Bynum, a 6-0 junior who scored 25 points against Maryland and 20 at Wake Forest, has broken into double figures for the season at 10.9 points a game, and also averages 3.0 assists per game and has a 1.88-1 assist-turnover ratio.
Lewis, who has averaged 13.3 points in ACC games, averages 12.1 for the season while ranking sixth in the ACC in three-point percentage (37.8) and fifth in three-pointers per game (2.18).
“Marvin has been tremendous coming off the bench,” said Hewitt. “He seems to have focused in even more. He’s always been a guy who is very intelligent on the court. But his rebounding numbers have gone up. He’s screening much better. We told these guys that we would shuffle the lineup at times based on personnel. It’s only a matter of time before he starts again.”
Tech’s other primary reserves include Anthony McHenry (2.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg), a 6-7 junior playing strong forward, and Theodis Tarver, a 6-9 sophomore postman who has averaged 1.5 points and 2.8 rebounds since getting back on the court Jan. 11 after a pre-season knee injury.
Tech Series vs. NC State
> NC State leads the overall series, 43-31, having won 11 of the last 15 meetings between the two teams. Prior to that, Tech had won seven in a row.
> Georgia Tech and NC State have split their regular-season meetings each of the past four years, each team winning at home. The trend continued last year when Tech won, 85-61, in Atlanta on Jan. 11, and the Wolfpack took a 63-57 decision in Raleigh on Feb. 12.
> Tech is just 7-24 in games played in Raleigh, including an 0-4 mark at the RBC Center. The Jackets have lost seven straight times to the Wolfpack on their home court, dating back to Jan. 24, 1996, a 76-71 Tech victory.
> Tech is 3-4 against NC State under head coach Paul Hewitt. Since Herb Sendek took over the reins at NC State, the Jackets are 5-11 against the Wolfpack and averaged just 61.6 points over the 16 meetings.
> Last season: Tech registered the first of its three 20-point conference wins with an 85-61 decision on Jan. 11 in Atlanta. B.J. Elder led five Tech players in double digits with 24 points, and Tech shot 57.7 percent from the floor, a three-year high. On Feb. 12 in Raleigh, Levi Watkins scored 18 points off the bench to lead NC State, and the Wolfpack held off a second-half Tech rally to win 63-57. Tech again did a good defensive job on State’s leading scorer Julius Hodge (1-7 FG, 9 points), but it was Hodge who made the game’s key basket with 1:15 left on a drive in the lane to give his team a 61-57 lead.
Lineup Changes Help Spark Winning Streak
Looking to get the Yellow Jackets out of the gate better after losing games at Georgia and North Carolina, head coach Paul Hewitt made his first changes to the starting lineup prior to Georgia Tech’s Jan. 15 game with Virginia. He inserted Clarence Moore, Isma’il Muhammad and Will Bynum into the lineup against the Cavaliers, replacing B.J. Elder, Marvin Lewis and Anthony McHenry.
The results have been good, as Tech has won its last three games, a 75-57 win over Virginia, an 81-71 win over Maryland and Tuesday’s 73-66 victory at Wake Forest. Moore and Muhammad have remained in the starting five, while Elder returned to the lineup for Maryland to replace Bynum.
Bynum, after scoring just four points against Virginia, exploded against Maryland and Wake Forest, scoring 25 points against the Terps (8-14 FG, 5-7 from three) and 20 at Wake Forest (7-13 FG, 3-5 from three).
During the Tech winning streak:> The Jackets have limited the three opponents to 37.1 percent from the floorand 28.3 percent from three-point range.> Tech has forced 53 turnovers while committing only 41.> Tech has shot 44.6 percent from three-point range and 71.2 percent from the foul line.> Five players have averaged in double figures over the stretch, led by Bynum's 16.3 ppg.
Tobacco Road Blues
While Georgia Tech’s recent struggles to win on the road have been well-documented, the Yellow Jackets travel travails on Tobacco Road have been even more pronounced, making Tuesday night’s win at Wake Forest a breakthrough effort.
In 1995-96, when Tech last won the ACC regular-season title, the Yellow Jackets won three of four games on the road against the “Big Four,” beating Duke, North Carolina and NC State with a loss at Wake Forest. In the seven years between then and this year, Tech had won just once in 28 games, that coming at Wake Forest in the 1997-98 season.
A win for Tech at NC State would not only make the Yellow Jackets 2-1 on the road in the ACC this season, but double their wins on Tobacco Road since 1996. Tech has lost seven straight games each at NC State and Duke, and eight straight at North Carolina after its Jan. 11 defeat.
Road Reversal
After losing their first 10 games on the road last season, Georgia Tech has won eight of its last 12 games away from its home court and five of its last eight on opponents’ home courts. Six of Tech’s 15 wins this season have occurred away from home, including Tuesday night’s triumph at Wake Forest which was the Yellow Jackets’ first win over a Top 10 team on its homecourt since the 2000-01 season.
Tech also earned wins at Cornell and Ohio State sandwiched around the Yellow Jackets’ Preseason NIT wins at Madison Square Garden against No. 1 Connecticut and No. 25 Texas Tech.
Tech was 2-11 on opponents’ home courts last year, including a 1-7 mark in the ACC.
#11/13 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (15-2, 3-1 ACC)vs. NC State (10-4, 3-1 ACC)January 24, 2004 * 4 p.m. ET * RBC Center, Raleigh, N.C. (19,722)
TV: Raycom/JP Sports (WATL-TV in Atlanta); Tim Brant, pbp; Mike Gminski, color
Radio: Georgia Tech/ISP Network (flagship WQXI-AM 790); Wes Durham, pbp; Randy Waters, color; also on the American Forces Network worldwide
Series vs. NC State: NC State leads, 43-31 In Raleigh: Tech is 7-24 At RBC Center: Tech is 0-4
Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt: 129-73 (.639), 7th season overall 63-46 (.578), 4th season at Tech 25-27 (.481) vs. the ACC 3-4 vs. NC State (0-3 in Raleigh)
NC State coach Herb Sendek: 200-128 (.610), 11th season overall 137-102 (.573), 8th season at NC State 11-5 vs. Georgia Tech (7-0 in Raleigh)
Next for Georgia Tech: Jan. 27 vs. Clemson, 7 p.m. ET Next for NC State: Jan. 28 at North Carolina, 7 p.m. ET
