December 27, 2017

Post-game Notes (Game 12)

Dec. 27, 2017

Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery

–

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Georgia Tech starting lineup: Alston, Alvarado, Lammers, Okogie, Wright
First subs for Georgia Tech: Jackson for Okogie at 15:50 – 1^st half
On the floor for Georgia Tech at the end: Alston, Cole, Jackson, Lammers, Okogie
Opening tap won by Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech has won the opening tap five times in 12 games this season, and has done so in each of the last three games.
Series record vs. Coppin State: Georgia Tech is 1-0 overall, 1-0 in Atlanta, 1-0 under Josh Pastner, 1-0 vs. Juan Dixon
Current series streak: Georgia Tech won the last meeting
Georgia Tech is 6-3 at McCamish Pavilion this season, 66-33 in its sixth season in the building, 23-7 under Josh Pastner
Georgia Tech is 0-2 on the road this season, 0-3 away from McCamish Pavilion
Georgia Tech’s next game: December 30, 2 p.m. vs. Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind.

TEAM NOTES

Head coach Josh Pastner used his fifth different starting lineup this season, inserting Brandon Alston back into the starting five in place of Tadric Jackson, joined by Jose Alvarado, Josh Okogie, Moses Wright and Ben Lammers. Jackson had started the last six games, and Alston made his first start since Nov. 28 vs. Northwestern and his sixth start of the season. Tech had started the same five, with Jackson instead of Alston, since Okogie’s return on Dec. 17.
Curtis Haywood II, who had started seven straight games, sat out for the fourth consecutive game with a shin injury. Post players Abdoulaye Gueye and Sylvester Ogbonda did not suit up due to ankle injuries, and Justin Moore is not with the team due to a death in the family. Injuries have forced Tech players to miss 19 games cumulatively this season, and the Jackets have yet to play a game with all 11 scholarship players healthy.
Alvarado and Lammers have started every game this season. Lammers has started Tech’s last 49 consecutive games.
Two freshmen have started each game for the Yellow Jackets, with Alvarado starting all nine. Curtis Haywood II has started seven games, Moses Wright five.
Tech trailed by as many as six points in the game and trailed for 19 minutes and 22 seconds altogether, then finished the game by outscoring the Eagles 25-8 over the final 9:51. The Jackets were behind 38-34 with 18:30 remaining when freshman point guard Jose Alvarado left the game with an injury. Without Alvarado, Tech forged three ties before taking the lead for good at 55-54 with 8:55 remaining.
Tech has averaged 73.8 points and converted 47.3 percent of their field goal attempts in the four games since Josh Okogie’s return.
Tech continues to make life tough for opponents inside the three-point arc. The Jackets came into the Coppin State game ranked No. 28 nationally according to Kenpom.com in lowest two-point field goal percentage yield (now 42.6 percent after Coppin State went 12-for-34.
Tech has connected on just nine threes in 37 attempts in its last three games against Georgia, Wright State and Coppin State. The Yellow Jackets had made 37.4 percent of its three-point field goals and averaged 6.0 per game (43-for-115) over the seven games prior to that.
Tech committed a season-low six turnovers against Coppin State, matching its total from the North Texas game, but only forced four from the Eagles..
Tech outscored Coppin State 40-18 in the paint and enjoyed a season-high plus-17 advantage in rebounding (41-24).
Tech committed only seven fouls in the game (none in the first half), the fewest for the Yellow Jackets since fouling seven times against Miami on Jan 4, 2012. The last time the Jackets committed fewer was Jan. 3, 2007 against Winston-Salem State (5). It was the 22^nd time dating back to the 1987-88 season that Tech had committed fewer than 10 fouls in a game.
Tech nearly set a school record for most free throws in a game without a miss, converting on its first 20 attempts against Coppin State. But Brandon Alston, an 82.4-percent marksman, missed the last attempt of the game to leave the Yellow Jackets 20-for-21 from the line. The Jackets improved to 72.4 percent for the season, which ranks seventh in the ACC.
Pastner meter 1 (assists to made field goals): Tech assisted on just 12 of 26 field goals made and 26 of 77 in its last three games (33.8 percent), falling short its nightly goal of 60 percent for the third time this season. The Jackets have assisted on 56.5 percent of their made field goals for the season, after finishing last season at 62.7 percent (63.2 percent rate in ACC games).
Pastner meter 2 (free throws made to opponents’ attempts): Tech made 20-of-21 free throws to Coppin State’s 2-of-3 (goal of making more than opponent tries not accomplished). For the season, Tech has converted 197 free throws, while opponents have attempted 193. Tech is 26-7 under Josh Pastner when attempting more free throws than the opponent.
Pastner meter 3 (guard rebounding): Tech’s guards combined for 16 of Tech’s 30 defensive rebounds.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Ben Lammers recorded his fourth double-double of the season (22 points and 11 rebounds) and did so for the second straight game. He has accumulated 20 double-doubles since the beginning of last season. Lammers went 9-of-16 from the floor and made all four of his free throws (82.1 percent for the season).
Lammers blocked six shots against Coppin State to give him 212 blocks for his career, sitting in sole possession of fourth place in Tech history and needing 31 to catch John Salley (243 from 1982-86) for third place. Lammers is third in the ACC and 11^th nationally in blocked shots per game (3.0).
Lammers’ 82.1-percent clip from the free throw line is nearly nine percent better than his junior year (73.7 percent). Lammers was a combined 21-of-43 his first two seasons.
Tadric Jackson, who did not start for the first time since Nov. 28 vs. Northwestern, has scored in double digits in each game since returning to the court, and had 17 against Coppin State. It was his 31^st double-digit game off the bench as a Yellow Jacket, 22 of those since the beginning of last season. The senior guard has reached double figures 18 times in his last 20 games and 32 times since the beginning of last season.
Jackson went 6-of-10 from the floor against Coppin State, and is hitting 62.5 percent of his shots (50-of-80) from inside the three-point arc this season, 51.8 percent overall.
Jackson grabbed a career-best nine rebounds and is averaging a career-best 4.4 for the season.
Josh Okogie has averaged 18.5 points per game in his four games back on the court, reaching double digits in every one, though he scored a season-low 13 against Coppin State. The 6-4 sophomore has hit 41.2 percent of his shots from the floor, 5-of-12 from three-point range and 27-of-33 (81.8 percent) from the free throw line. Okogie has scored in double figures 36 times in 41 career games. He has scored 20 or more 11 times.
Brandon Alston reached double figures (10) points for the first time since scoring 20 against Texas-Rio Grande Valley in the third game of the season. Alston scored in double figures in Tech’s first three games this season, but had totaled 26 points in the eight games in between. The 6-5 graduate transfer also had four assists and just one turnover in a season-high 38 minutes, being forced to play point guard for most of the final 18:30 after freshman Jose Alvarado left the game with an injury.
Jackson surpassed 900 career points with his performance against Coppin State and has 912 currently. At his current career-best average of 15.9 points per game, it will take him six more games to become the 44^th Georgia Tech player to reach 1,000. Lammers has 836 career points, and would need 13 games at his current 13.0 per game rate to reach 1,000.