Dec. 22, 2004
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ATLANTA – Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt was pleased with three of his freshmen. He was not very happy with leading scorer B.J. Elder.
Isma’il Muhammad scored 16 points and Luke Schenscher added 14 to power No. 9 Georgia Tech to a 90-48 rout of Charleston Southern on Wednesday night.
Jarrett Jack contributed 13 points, Anthony Morrow added 11 and Will Bynum had 10 as the Yellow Jackets (8-1) had their largest blowout of the season. Georgia Tech beat Georgia 87-49 on Dec. 5 for its previous best.
Kurtis Rice led Charleston Southern (1-6) with 12 points, while Nathan Ball added 11.
Hewitt’s three youngsters – Morrow, Ra’Sean Dickey and Zam Fredrick – all had season-highs in minutes. Morrow played 18 minutes and was 4-of-7 shots from the field, including two 3-pointers. Dicky played 17 minutes and had nine points and had six rebounds and Fredrick had six points.
“You’re going to see those guys play a little more because the one thing they can do is score,” Hewitt said. “I’ve just got to find a way to get them in the lineup.”
The Yellow Jackets had won their first seven games and were ranked No. 3 before losing 85-73 to Gonzaga last Saturday.
“For us to be good this year, we’re going to have to have some depth,” Hewitt said. “I look at the other night against Gonzaga, and I relied on too few guys to score.”
Tech led 43-27 at halftime before breaking it open early in the second half as Jack scored eight points in a 13-2 run that made it 57-29.
“For us to be good this year, we’re going to have to have some depth.” Paul Hewitt |
Elder didn’t play in the second half after scoring five points on 2-of-3 shooting, including a 3-pointer, in 14 minutes of the first half.
Elder was not injured and Hewitt did not directly answer why he didn’t play in the second half.
“He didn’t do anything wrong. I just made a decision,” said Hewitt, who apparently was upset with Elder’s effort.
“He has a lot more to give,” he said. “I’ve run out of time to get it out of him. He’s our best all-around talent. I don’t know what to do. Hug him, yell at him. I just want to see B.J. be the best all the time.”
Elder was unavailable for comment after the game.
Charleston Southern cut a 12-point deficit to 21-17 on a basket by Donnell Covington with 12:41 left in the first half, but the Buccaneers went scoreless for the next 7:23.
Tech went on a 10-0 run for a 31-17 lead en route to its largest margin of the opening 20 minutes at 40-21 on two free throws by Muhammad with 3:24 remaining.
“It’s pretty much like a freight train hitting you and you are kind of standing on the tracks waiting for it to come because I think that’s pretty much the way it feels,” Buccaneers coach Jim Platt said.
All 12 Tech players got in the game, nine scoring at least five points.
The Yellow Jackets shot 60.8 percent from the field (31-of-51), their best in five seasons under Hewitt. Tech shot 60.3 percent in a 94-43 win over Tennessee State last season.
Charleston Southern was only 19-of-60 (32 percent) overall and 8-of-34 (23.5 percent) in the second half.
TOM SALADINO
AP Sports Writer
