January 10, 2018

Post-Game Notes (Game 16)

Jan. 10, 2018

Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | GT Gallery | USATSI Gallery

–

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Georgia Tech starting lineup: Alston, Alvarado, Okogie, Gueye, Lammers
First subs for Georgia Tech: Jackson for Alston at 16:41 – 1^st half
On the floor for Georgia Tech at the end: Alvarado, Haywood II, Jackson, Okogie, Lammers
Opening tap won by Notre Dame. Georgia Tech has won the opening tap six times in 16 games this season
Series record vs. Notre Dame: Georgia Tech is 10-8 overall, 7-1 at home, 2-2 under Josh Pastner, 5-6 vs. Mike Brey
Current series streak: Tech won the last meeting
Georgia Tech is 9-3 at McCamish Pavilion this season, 69-33 in its sixth season in the building, 26-7 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. 13, 2 p.m. at Pittsburgh

TEAM NOTES

Georgia Tech is 9-2 against the ACC at McCamish Pavilion under head coach Josh Pastner, 26-7 overall.
Georgia Tech has won five games (5-1 record) against top-25 opponents at McCamish Pavilion under Josh Pastner.
Head coach Josh Pastner has started the same lineup for the past four games, with Abdoulaye Gueye playing the “4” position. Pastner has used six different starting lineups this season.
Tech has had its full roster to practice only for the last two games and played a solid 7-man rotation for the first time in ACC play against Notre Dame Wednesday night. Injuries or other absences have forced Tech players to miss 32 games cumulatively this season, and the Jackets had not played a game with all 11 scholarship players healthy and available until the Yale game on Jan. 6.
Alvarado and Lammers have started every game this season. Lammers has started Tech’s last 53 consecutive games.
Georgia Tech’s playing rotation this season features four freshmen and a first-year graduate transfer who have combined to start 34 games and log 49 percent of the Yellow Jackets’ total minutes.
Tech played seven players in the game, and all seven scored, the first time since the Coppin State game on Dec. 27 that every Yellow Jacket that played in the game scored.
Tech limited Notre Dame to 35.6 percent from the floor (25.8 in the first half), the ninth time this season the Yellow Jackets have held an opponent under 40 percent, and the third time against an ACC team. Notre Dame has shot under 40 percent only three times this season, including both games against Tech.
Notre Dame, No. 18 nationally in offensive efficiency this season according to KenPom.com, shot less than 40 percent for just the third time this season, including both games against the Yellow Jackets (Syracuse, 30.4 percent, was the other). Wednesday night, Tech forced the Irish into their worst game this season in terms of offensive efficiency (81.2 points per 100 possessions). The teams’ first meeting on Dec. 30 was Notre Dame’s fourth least-efficient game of the season. Last season, in which Notre Dame also ranked No. 18 in offensive efficiency, Tech’s two games against the Fighting Irish were their No. 2 and 3 least efficient offensive games of the season (Virginia was No. 1).
Tech came into the game ranked No. 25 in the nation in scoring defense, and held Notre Dame, who had averaged 79.8 points per game, to just 53. It was the Fighting Irish’ second-lowest output this season (51 vs. Syracuse) and was the Yellow Jackets’ third-lowest yield.
Tech has averaged 66.6 points and allowed just 59.4 per game in its five games since the Christmas break (4-1 record). Opponents have shot 38.7 percent overall, 32.7 percent from three-point range. The Jackets have outscored the five opponents from the free throw line 14.0 to 8.2 per game, and outrebounded them 37.2-32.8. Tech also has averaged 6.0 blocks and 7.6 steals per game.
The Jackets came into the Notre Dame game ranked No. 14 nationally according to Kenpom.com (43.1 percent) in lowest two-point field goal percentage yield, and held Notre Dame to 36.5 percent (5-for-41) from two-point range. Tech is yielding 43.0 percent from inside the arc.
Tech has committed 12.5 turnovers per game this season, down from 14.3 at the same point (16 games) last season. Tech has just 47 in its last five games (13 vs. Notre Dame).
Tech has connected on 12 of 25 three-point attempts in its last two games. The Jackets had made just 16 threes in 67 attempts the five games before that (3.2 per game and 23.9 percent).
After netting no second-chance points at Notre Dame on Dec. 30, the Yellow Jackets snared 33 offensive rebounds and scored 37 points from them in their last three games.
Tech enjoyed a healthy advantage on the boards for the third time in five games, outrebounding Notre Dame 39-33 after the Irish had owned the boards, 45-33, in the first meeting.
Tech has rebounded from a poor game at the free throw line Dec. 30 against Notre Dame (7-of-18) to hit 43-of-57 (75.4 percent) in its last three games, improving its season conversion rate to 71.2 percent.
Pastner meter 1 (assists to made field goals): Tech assisted on 13 of 25 field goals made, its first time over 50 percent since Florida A&M on Dec. 17. Tech’s nightly goal is 60 percent. The Jackets have assisted on 53.2 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 5-of-6 free throws to Notre Dame’s 7-of-12 (goal of making more than opponent tries not accomplished). For the season, Tech has converted 247 free throws, while opponents have attempted 246. Tech is 28-7 under Josh Pastner when attempting more free throws than the opponent.
Pastner meter 3 (guard rebounding): Tech’s guards combined for 15 of Tech’s 29 defensive rebounds, including a career-high nine from Tadric Jackson. Jackson, Jose Alvarado and Josh Okogie are all averaging well above four rebounds per game.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Josh Okogie has averaged 19.6 points per game in his eight games back on the court, reaching double digits in every one, including 21.0 in ACC games so far. The 6-4 sophomore has hit 44.8 percent of his shots from three-point range and 78.1 percent from the free throw line. The sophomore guard has scored in double figures 40 times in 45 career games. He has scored 30 or more three times (two vs. ACC), 20 or more 13 times, six times in an ACC game.
Okogie scored 17 point against Notre Dame with a season-high five assists, four rebounds and two blocked shots and did not turn the ball over in 39 minutes.
In half the number of games, Okogie has pulled ahead of Jose Alvarado for the team lead in free throw attempts, 64 to 60. Okogie is averaging 8.0 attempts per game, nearly well above his average of 6.5 as a freshman, which ranked third in the ACC.
Tadric Jackson broke back into double figures for the first time since Tech’s visit to Notre Dame on Dec. 30, scoring 11. The 6-2 senior has had 33 double-digit scoring games off the bench as a Yellow Jacket, 24 of those since the beginning of last season. He has reached double figures 20 times in his last 24 games and 34 times since the beginning of last season.
Jackson is hitting 56.9 percent of his shots (62-of-109) from inside the three-point arc this season, and a career-best 48.3 percent overall.
Jackson has become one of the Yellow Jackets’ best rebounders, grabbing no less than four in five straight games, including a career-high nine against Notre Dame, which left him one board shy of his first career double-double. He has averaged 6.4 boards over that five-game stretch, and 4.8 for the season.
Ben Lammers posted his sixth double-double this season against Notre Dame, getting 10 point and 10 rebounds, his third double-double in his last five games and the 22^nd of his career, all since the beginning of last season. The 6-10 senior added two assists, two blocks and two steals in his third 40-minute game of the season.
Lammers blocked two shots against Notre Dame to give him 223 blocks for his career, sitting in sole possession of fourth place in Tech history and needing 20 to catch John Salley (243 from 1982-86) for third place. The senior center is third in the ACC and 13^th nationally in blocked shots per game (3.0).
Lammers and Jose Alvarado each played 40 minutes, the third such game for each this season. Lammers is averaging 36.0 minutes this season (5^th in the ACC) and Alvarado 34.3 (11^th). Okogie averages 35.5, but has not played enough games to qualify for the league rankings. After missing nearly the entire second half of the Coppin State game with a head injury, Alvarado has played 157 minutes in Tech’s last four games.
Abdoulaye Gueye, making his fourth straight start and 12^th of the season, had another solid game with eight points (4-6 FG) and six rebounds. The junior forward has averaged 7.1 points (13-of-26 FG) and 7.0 rebounds in four games since sitting out the Coppin State game with an ankle injury.
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.
Tadric Jackson surpassed 900 career points with his performance against Coppin State and has 947 currently. At his current career-best average of 13.7 points per game, it will take the senior guard four more games to become the 44^th Georgia Tech player to reach 1,000. Lammers has 875 career points, and would need 11 games at his current 12.2 per game rate to reach 1,000.