February 11, 2018

Post-Game Notes (Game 25)

Feb. 11, 2018

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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Georgia Tech starting lineup: Alston, Alvarado, Okogie, Gueye, Lammers
First subs for Georgia Tech: Jackson for Gueye – 16:28, 1^st half
On the floor for Georgia Tech at the end: Alston, Okogie, Cole, Wright, Lammers
Opening tap won by Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech has won the opening tap 10 times in 25 games this season
Series record vs. Duke: Georgia Tech is 23-72 overall, 15-28 at home, 19-60 as ACC members, 0-2 under Josh Pastner, 19-58 vs. Mike Krzyzewski
Current series streak: Duke has won the 11 meetings
Georgia Tech is 10-6 at McCamish Pavilion this season, 70-36 in its sixth season in the building, 27-10 under Josh Pastner
Georgia Tech is 1-7 on the road this season, 1-8 away from McCamish Pavilion
Georgia Tech’s next game: Feb. 14 at Wake Forest, 9 p.m. [RSN]

TEAM NOTES

Head coach Josh Pastner’s Georgia Tech teams are 5-8 against top-25 teams (5-4 at home), including a 2-5 mark this season (2-3 at home).
In the last two seasons (since head coach Josh Pastner arrived), no team has more wins at home over AP Top 15 teams as an unranked opponent than Georgia Tech (Tech and Colorado with four each, Syracuse with three).
Georgia Tech has started the same lineup for the past 13 games, with Abdoulaye Gueye playing the “4” position. The Yellow Jackets have used six different starting lineups this season.
Tech has had its full roster to practice only for seven games and played a solid 7-man rotation for the first time in ACC play against Notre Dame Jan. 10. Injuries or other absences have forced Tech players to miss 40 games cumulatively this season. Tech does not have its full rotation for the rest of the season with freshman Curtis Haywood II sidelined for the remainder of the season with a stress reaction in his right leg.
Jose Alvarado and Ben Lammers have started every game this season. Lammers has started Tech’s last 62 consecutive games.
Tech’s playing rotation this season features four freshmen and a first-year graduate transfer who have combined to start 56 games and log 44 percent of the Yellow Jackets’ total minutes.
Pastner needs one victory to reach 200 for his head coaching career (199-103).
Tech committed just 10 turnovers against Duke, which has been bettered by the Jackets only against Clemson and Syracuse (nine each) and Notre Dame on Dec. 30 in conference play. Only three of those occurred in the second half while the Jackets rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit to as few as nine.
Tech hit seven three-point field goals for the second straight game and are 14-of-30 from distance in the last two games.
Tech received 26 points from its bench against Duke, a season high. The Jackets’ previous best was 23 against Virginia, and 20 before that against Florida A&M.
Tech matched its season high by grabbing 16 offensive rebounds and converted them into a season-best 16 points.

PASTNER’S KEY METRICS

Assists to made field goals: Tech assisted on 14 of 22 made field goals (63.6 percent) against Duke, below its nightly goal of 60 percent. The Jackets have assisted on 54.4 percent of their made field goals for the season (53.2 percent vs. the ACC), after finishing last season at 62.7 percent (63.2 percent rate in ACC games).
Free throws made to opponents’ attempts: Tech made 18-of-23 free throws to Duke’s 21-of-26 (nightly goal of making more than opponent tries not accomplished). For the season, Tech has converted 354 free throws, while opponents have attempted 419. Tech is 29-8 under Josh Pastner when attempting more free throws than the opponent.
Turnovers: Tech has committed 12.9 turnovers per game this season, down slightly from last season (13.4), and 12.6 in ACC games, down from 13.3 last season.
Guard rebounding: Tech’s guards combined for eight of Tech’s 23 defensive rebounds against Clemson. Tadric Jackson, Jose Alvarado and Josh Okogie are all averaging 3.9 rebounds per game or higher this season.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Jose Alvarado suffered a dislocated left elbow injury in the first half. The joint was stabilized, and Alvarado was transported to a local hospital for x-rays for further evaluation. He is expected to be sidelined for an indefinite period. Alvarado played 12 minutes and had played every minute of Tech’s four games prior to the Duke game.
Freshman forwards Evan Cole (21 minutes) and Moses Wright (20 minutes) received their most extensive playing time since before Christmas, combining for 19 points. Each hit a three-point field goal and combined to go 6-of-13 overall from the floor, 5-of-8 from the free throw line.
Cole last played double-digit minutes against Florida A&M on Dec. 17, and his 10 points were a season high. He also grabbed five rebounds, his most since getting six against Coppin State. Wright last played double-digit minutes on Dec. 27 against Coppin State, and scored his most points (9) since his season best of 19 against the Rattlers on Dec. 17. His seven boards were his most since getting his season high of eight against Bethune-Cookman.
Josh Okogie came up one point shy of getting his fourth career 30-point game, scoring 29 against No. 9 Duke, and also added six rebounds, four assists, a block and two steals in 40 minutes. It was his second 40-minute game this season.
Okogie has scored in double figures in his last seven games (20.9 ppg) after having a 25-game streak of double-digit games snapped against Virginia (nine points). The sophomore guard has scored in double figures 48 times in 54 career games. He has scored 30 or more three times (two vs. ACC), 20 or more 17 times (10 times in an ACC game).
Okogie has averaged 19.1 points per game after missing the first eight games of the season, including 19.2 in ACC games so far (fourth-best in league rankings). He averaged 16.1 points as a freshman, 17.1 against the ACC. The 6-4 sophomore has hit 41.2 percent of his shots from three-point range and 81.7 percent from the free throw line this season. Okogie has at least one three in 14 of his 17 games this season, including his first seven straight.
Okogie has scored more points in his first two seasons at Tech (920) since Matt Harpring accumulated 1,021 by the end of his sophomore season (1996-98). At his present rate, Okogie can become the sixth Tech player to reach 1,000 career points by the end of his sophomore season.
In eight games against top-25 opponents Georgia Tech has hosted at McCamish Pavilion, Okogie has averaged 21.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He has shot 47.5 percent (57-of-120) from the floor, 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from three-point range and 81.2 percent (69-of-85) from the free throw line.
Okogie is averaging 7.2 rebounds per game in ACC play, third best among league guards, and 6.5 for the season. Okogie has snared 58 rebounds in his last seven games (8.3).
Okogie has 33 assists in his last 10 games, a 3.3 average, and has matched his career high of five twice (second meeting vs. Notre Dame and at Florida State) in that stretch.
Despite missing eight games, Okogie leads the Jackets in free throw attempts with 120, an average of 7.1 per game that leads the ACC. He averaged 6.5 as a freshman, which ranked third in the ACC.
Ben Lammers surpassed 700 career rebounds against Syracuse and now has 730, moving into 13^th place on Georgia Tech’s all-time list with eight boards against Duke. He needs 10 to catch Jim Wood (740 from 1974-77) for 12^th place.
Lammers blocked one shot against Duke, giving him 240 blocks for his career, good for sole possession of fourth place in Tech history and needing three to catch John Salley (243 from 1982-86) for third place.
Lammers also is drifting ever closer to 1,000 points for his career. With 960 career points, and needs four games at his current 11.2 per game rate to reach 1,000.
Abdoulaye Gueye went scoreless for the second time in four games against Duke, but has averaged 8.4 points (50 percent FG) and 6.2 rebounds in 13 games since conference play began. He has scored in double figures six times during that stretch, and also has blocked 21 shots.
Gueye has scored 109 points in the 13 games since sitting out Coppin State on Dec. 27. He had scored 70 points in 39 career games prior to Coppin State.
Before being injured in the Duke game, Alvarado had logged eight “complete games” (seven 40-minute regulation games and one 45-minute overtime game) including six of those in conference play. The freshman point guard averaged 39.3 minutes per ACC game prior to Duke, fourth-most in the conference, and ranked fourth among freshman nationally at 35.9 minutes per game overall. Since the beginning of ACC play, Alvarado had sat out just 15 minutes total in 12 games prior to Duke.
Lammers is averaging 36.4 minutes this season, sixth-most in the ACC (37.7 mpg vs. the ACC), and ranks No. 1 among centers nationally in average minutes played and percentage of possible minutes.
Tech, Syracuse and Boston College each have three players ranked among the ACC’s top 12 in average minutes per ACC game. Okogie is Tech’s third player among those 12, averaging 36.7 minutes per ACC game.