February 26, 2017

Post-Game Notes

Feb. 26, 2017

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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Georgia Tech starting lineup: Heath, Heyward, Okogie, Stephens, Lammers (10th straight game this season with this lineup)
First subs for Georgia Tech: Jackson for Heyward, 13:56 – 1^st half
On the floor for Georgia Tech at the end: Heath, Jackson, McCormick, Okogie, Lammers
Opening tap won by Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech has won the opening tap in 14 of 29 games this season.
Series record vs. Notre Dame: Georgia Tech is 9-7 overall, 1-5 on the road, 1-5 at Purcell Pavilion, 1-1 under Josh Pastner, 4-5 vs. Mike Brey
Current series streak: Notre Dame snapped a two-game losing streak in the series
Georgia Tech’s next game: February 28, 2017 vs. Pittsburgh, 8 p.m., McCamish Pavilion, Atlanta, Ga. [ESPNU, 680 AM, 93.7 FM, Sirius 81, XM 81]

TEAM NOTES

Georgia Tech has started Josh Heath, Corey Heyward, Ben Lammers, Josh Okogie and Quinton Stephens for the last 10 games and 11 times this season. Three Yellow Jackets – Lammers, Okogie and Stephens – have started every game this season.
Tech has played its last six games without backup forward Abdoulaye Gueye (fractured wrist).
Tech trailed at the half against Notre Dame (34-28) for the fifth straight game and for the seventh straight ACC game (14^th time this season).
Yellow Jackets fell to 3-11 this season when trailing at the half.
Tech remained winless at Purcell Pavilion (0-4) since Notre Dame joined the ACC.
Tech shot 44.8 percent from the floor to Notre Dame’s 35.1 percent, only the third time this season (16-3 record) that the Yellow Jackets have lost when shooting a higher percentage than its opponent.
Tech held Notre Dame 11 points under its scoring average (75.1 ppg) vs. ACC teams this season, and more than nine percentage points under its average (44.8 percent) for the season. The Yellow Jackets remain No. 1 in the ACC in field goal percentage defense (40.1 pct.) vs. ACC foes, No. 4 in scoring defense.
Despite that, Notre Dame hit 10 three-point field goals in 29 attempts. Only Duke (16) has made more threes in a game against Tech this year, although NC State (Jan. 15) and Boston College also made 10.
Tech had a 38-16 advantage on points in the paint against the Fighting Irish, the fifth straight game the Yellow Jackets have come out on top in that category.
Tech failed to reach its magic number for points (70), and is 3-13 this season when scoring less than 70.
Tech turned the ball over 14 times and recorded just seven assists, the first time since Feb. 4 vs. Wake Forest that Tech was not on the plus side in assist-to-turnover ratio. Notre Dame turned the 14 turnovers into 11 points.
Tech did not allow Notre Dame any transition points, and has outscored its last five opponents on fast breaks, 50-14.
Tech out-rebounded Notre Dame, 39-32, the first time in four games the Yellow Jackets were on the plus side.
Pastner meter 1 (assists to made field goals): Tech had seven assists on 26 made field goals (26.9 pct.) vs. Notre Dame – falling short of its 60 percent goal. That was a season low for assists by the Yellow Jackets and by far the lowest percentage of assists to made field goals. It dropped Tech’s season rate to 61.7 percent, and 63.7 percent in ACC games.
Pastner meter 2 (free throws made to opponents’ attempts): Tech made 5-of-8 free throws, fewest makes and attempts since going 2-for-3 at Miami on Feb. 15 to Notre Dame’s 14-of-18 (goal of making more than opponent tries not accomplished). The Yellow Jackets maintain a 70.5-percent clip from the foul line in ACC games, 68.4 percent in all games.
Pastner meter 3 (guard rebounding): Tech’s guards combined for 22 of Tech’s 29 defensive rebounds.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Tech nearly had three players post double-doubles against Notre Dame. Ben Lammers recorded his 13^th of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Josh Okogie posted his third with 14 points and 10 boards. Josh Heath came up one rebound short and scored 12 points.
Josh Okogie scored 14 points (6-of-16 FG), his 24^th double-sigit game this year and his 15^th in 16 ACC games. He had 11 points by halftime, exceeding his total in the teams’ first meeting on Jan. 28. He posted his fourth double-digit rebound game (10) of the season.

Tadric Jackson scored 20 points to post his seventh double-digit game in Tech’s last nine games, and his fourth 20-plus-point effort in that stretch. He is averaging a team-high 16.0 points and 2.1 assists over that stretch and has hit 48.8 percent (50 of 104) of his shots from the floor, 13-of-37 (35.1 pct.) from three.
Ben Lammers posted his seventh double-double against an ACC team this year, but this was the first to come in a losing effort.
Lammers blocked four more shots, giving him 100 for the season, fourth most in Tech history and the most by any played not named Alvin Jones, who holds the top three positions (141 in 1997-98, 107 in 1998-99, 101 in 2000-01). He is averaging 3.45 blocks per game, which ranks No. 2 nationally and leads the ACC, and 3.19 in ACC games.
Four Yellow Jackets played 35 or more minutes against Notre Dame. Ben Lammers is averaging 35 minutes a game this year, 36.6 per ACC game (third highest in the conference).
Josh Heath (12 points, 6-9 FG) recorded is fourth double-figure scoring game of the season, third against an ACC team.
Corey Heyward, who started his 10th straight game, played 12 more turnover-free minutes against Notre Dame. In his 10 starts, he has committed just two turnovers in 188 minutes. He has played 19 turnover-free games this season.