January 4, 2018

Post-Game Notes (Game 14)

Jan. 4, 2018

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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Georgia Tech starting lineup: Alston, Alvarado, Okogie, Gueye, Lammers
First subs for Georgia Tech: Jackson for Alston at 17:16 – 1^st half
On the floor for Georgia Tech at the end: Alston, Alvarado, Okogie, Jackson, Lammers
Opening tap won by Miami. Georgia Tech has won the opening tap six times in 14 games this season
Series record vs. Miami: Georgia Tech is 9-13 overall, 5-6 at home, 1-1 under Josh Pastner, 4-6 vs. Jim Larranaga
Current series streak: Georgia Tech won the last meeting
Georgia Tech is 7-3 at McCamish Pavilion this season, 67-33 in its sixth season in the building, 24-7 under Josh Pastner
Georgia Tech is 0-3 on the road this season, 0-4 away from McCamish Pavilion
Georgia Tech’s next game: Jan. 6, 7 p.m. vs. Yale, McCamish Pavilion

TEAM NOTES

Georgia Tech is 8-2 against the ACC at McCamish Pavilion under head coach Josh Pastner.
Georgia Tech has won four games (4-1 record) against top-15 opponents at McCamish Pavilion under Josh Pastner.
Georgia Tech snapped a five-game home losing streak to Miami, dating back to two losses at Philips Arena during the 2011-12 season.
Head coach Josh Pastner started the same lineup against Miami that started at Notre Dame. It was the second time this season that only one freshman was in the starting lineup – Jose Alvarado, who has started every game at point guard. Pastner has used six different starting lineups this season.
Curtis Haywood II sat out for the sixth consecutive game with a shin injury, and Justin Moore missed his third straight game for personal reasons. Injuries or other absences have forced Tech players to miss 29 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 51 consecutive games.
Georgia Tech’s playing rotation this season features four freshmen and a first-year graduate transfer who have combined to start 32 games and log 49 percent of the Yellow Jackets’ total minutes.
Jose Alvarado, Josh Okogie and Ben Lammers each played 39 minutes for the Yellow Jackets, and each played 40 minutes at Notre Dame (the first time that had happened since Jan. 30, 1991 vs. Duke). Lammers is averaging 35.8 minutes this season, Okogie 36.3 and Alvarado 33.6.
Tech has averaged 69.7 points and converted 43.0 percent of their field goal attempts in the six games since Josh Okogie’s return.
Tech continues to make life tough for opponents inside the three-point arc. The Jackets came into the Miami game ranked No. 12 nationally according to Kenpom.com in lowest two-point field goal percentage yield (now 42.6 percent after Miami converted 17-of-37).
Tech has held eight opponents this season, including Notre Dame and Miami, under 40 percent from the floor, and have limited its two ACC opponents to 37.9 percent from the floor and 28.2 percent from three-point range.
Tech came into the game ranked No. 34 in the nation in scoring defense, and held Miami, who had averaged nearly 75 points per game, to just 54. It tied the Hurricane’s lowest output this season (54 in a loss to New Mexico State) and was the Yellow Jackets’ third-lowest yield (49 to North Texas, 51 to Northwestern).
Tech forced 18 Miami turnovers, a season-high for the Hurricanes, and scored 21 points off those turnovers. The Yellow Jackets have forced an average of 13.7 turnovers per game this season, slightly down from the same point a year ago (14.3).
Tech was credited with 13 steals, a season high for the Yellow Jackets and the most since getting 15 in last year’s ACC opener against North Carolina. Six different players had at least one steal against the Hurricanes. The Jackets have averaged 7.6 steals this year, one per game better than last season, and have 22 in their first two ACC games.
Tech has committed 12.6 turnovers per game this season, down from 14.3 at the same point (14 games) last season. Tech has just 24 in its last three games, 11 vs. Miami and seven at Notre Dame. Seven of Tech’s 11 against Miami were committed by one player (Alvarado).
Tech has connected on just 16 threes in 67 attempts in its last five games against (3.2 per game and 23.9 percent). 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.
One game after netting no second-chance points at Notre Dame, the Yellow Jackets snared 10 offensive rebounds and scored 10 points from them against Miami.
Tech rebounded from a poor game at the free throw line against Notre Dame (7-of-18) to hit 17-of-23 (73.9 percent) against Miami, improving its season conversion rate to 70.6 percent.
Pastner meter 1 (assists to made field goals): Tech assisted on just eight of 23 field goals made and 44 of 123 in its last three games (35.8 percent), falling short its nightly goal of 60 percent for the third straight game. The Jackets have assisted on 54 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 17-of-23 free throws to Miami’s 8-of-11 (goal of making more than opponent tries accomplished). For the season, Tech has converted 221 free throws, while opponents have attempted 222. Tech is 27-7 under Josh Pastner when attempting more free throws than the opponent.
Pastner meter 3 (guard rebounding): Tech’s guards combined for 14 of Tech’s 28 defensive rebounds. Alvarado, Jackson and Okogie are all averaging well above four rebounds per game.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Josh Okogie has averaged 20.0 points per game in his six games back on the court, reaching double digits in every one, including a season-high 30 against Miami. The 6-4 sophomore has hit 38.5 shots from three-point range and 77.6 percent from the free throw line. Okogie has scored in double figures 38 times in 43 career games. He has scored 30 or more three times (two vs. ACC), 20 or more 12 times, six times in an ACC game.
In the five games against top-15 teams Tech has played at McCamish Pavilion in Josh Okogie’s career, the 6-4 guard has averaged 22.8 points.
Abdoulaye Gueye, making his second straight start and 10^th of the season, earned career highs in points (5) and rebounds (7) in an ACC game, playing 24 minutes before fouling out. He added an assist and a steal.
Tadric Jackson failed to reach double-figures in points for the first time this season, scoring just four points against Miami, but he had six rebounds, two assists, three steals and just one turnover in 28 minutes. The 6-2 senior has had 32 double-digit scoring games off the bench as a Yellow Jacket, 23 of those since the beginning of last season. The senior guard has reached double figures 19 times in his last 22 games and 33 times since the beginning of last season.
Jackson is hitting 61.1 percent of his shots (58-of-95) from inside the three-point arc this season, 50.4 percent overall.
Ben Lammers blocked two shots against Miami to give him 218 blocks for his career, sitting in sole possession of fourth place in Tech history and needing 25 to catch John Salley (243 from 1982-86) for third place. Lammers is third in the ACC and 12^th nationally in blocked shots per game (3.0).
Lammers’ 77.8-percent clip from the free throw line is more than five percent better than his junior year (73.7 percent). Lammers was a combined 21-of-43 his first two seasons.
Lammers snapped a streak of three straight games with a double-double (eight points, eight rebounds), but he had two assists, two blocked shots and three steals in 39 minutes. He has accumulated 21 double-doubles since the beginning of last season.
After missing nearly the entire second half of the Coppin State game with a head injury, freshman point guard Jose Alvarado has played 79 minutes in Tech’s two ACC games, scoring 11 points at Notre Dame and 12 against Miami while hitting 9-of-17 shots from the floor.
Brandon Alston, who had started Tech’s last three games and eight this season, has six assists, one turnover and four steals in his first two ACC games.
Jackson surpassed 900 career points with his performance against Coppin State and has 931 currently. At his current career-best average of 14.7 points per game, it will take him five more games to become the 44^th Georgia Tech player to reach 1,000. Lammers has 855 career points, and would need 12 games at his current 12.5 per game rate to reach 1,000.