Post-Game Notes (Game 3)

Nov. 22, 2017

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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

• Georgia Tech starting lineup: Alvarado, Alston, Haywood II, Lammers, Gueye
• First subs for Georgia Tech: Cole, Wright for Gueye, Haywood II at 11:29 – 1^st half
• On the floor for Georgia Tech at the end: Brown, Jester, Ogbonda, Rice, Schafer
• Opening tap won by Texas-Rio Grande Valley. Georgia Tech has won the opening tap once in three games this season.
• Series record vs. Texas-Rio Grande Valley: Georgia Tech is 1-1 overall, 1-1 at home, 1-0 under Josh Pastner, 1-0 vs. Lew Hill
• Current series streak: Georgia Tech won the last meeting
• Georgia Tech is 2-0 at McCamish Pavilion this season, 62-30 in its sixth season in the building, 19-4 under Josh Pastner
• Georgia Tech’s next game: November 24, 4 p.m., vs. North Texas, McCamish Pavilion

TEAM NOTES

• Two freshmen have started each game for the Yellow Jackets, with Alvarado starting all three. Curtis Haywood II has started two games, Moses Wright one.
• Tech led 32-27 at the half. The Yellow Jackets are 18-2 under Josh Pastner when leading at the half, 1-0 this season.
• Tech led 45-33 when Jose Alvarado went to the bench with his fourth foul at the 14:45 mark of the second half, and led 64-54 when he returned at the 5:13 mark, more than nine minutes later.
• Tech scored a season-high 78 points, the team’s highest point total since scoring 96 last year against Tusculum. The Yellow Jackets are 18-0 under Josh Pastner when scoring 70 or more points.
• The Jackets shot 54.2 percent from the floor, their first game at 50 percent or better since Ole Miss in the quarterfinals of last year’s NIT, and their highest percentage since hitting 56.3 percent last year against Tusculum.
• Tech hit a season-high five three-point field goals (in 12 attempts) against UTRGV, matching the total from its first two games (in 23 attempts).
• Tech held UTRGV to 38.5 percent shooting from the floor, the second straight game the Yellow Jackets have held an opponent under 40 percent. The Jackets improved to 17-5 under Josh Pastner when limiting an opponent under 40 percent. The Vaqueros started the game 1-for-13, and started the second half 0-for-4.
• Tech held UTRGV to 68 points after the Vaqueros had averaged more than 82 points in their first four games, continuing a trend from last season that has held through the first three games this season. The Jackets held Bethune-Cookman to 62 points after the Wildcats had averaged 86.7 in their first three games, and to 36.4-percent shooting from the floor after they had average 44.7 in their first three games. The Jackets also limited UCLA to 63 points and 40.7 percent from the floor after the Bruins had ranked No. 2 nationally in points per game (89.8 ppg) and No. 1 in field goal percentage (52.2). UCLA has averaged 90.8 points in their four games since Tech.
• Tech went 21-for-34 from the free throw line against UTRGV, and have averaged 20.3 points per game from the charity stripe so far, compared to 13.6 per game last season. The Jackets have hit 71.8 percent from the stripe in three games.
• The Jackets out-scored UTRGV 38-30 in the paint and 25-18 in points off turnovers and 12-5 in second chance points. Tech gave up 17 offensive rebounds but only 15 points from them.
• Tech was missing three of its six returning players from last season against UTRGV – sophomore guard Josh Okogie and senior guard Tadric Jackson and, who were the Jackets’ No. 1 and No. 3 scorers in 2016-17, and sophomore guard Justin Moore, due to NCAA violations. Jackson is eligible to return Friday against North Texas, while Okogie is eligible to return Dec. 3 against Tennessee. Okogie also is out due to a dislocation of his ring finger suffered in the Jackets’ exhibition against Georgia State. Moore is serving a two-game suspension that includes the North Texas game.
• Pastner meter 1 (assists to made field goals): Tech assisted on 18 of 26 made field goals (69.2 percent), exceeding its nightly goal of 60 percent. The Jackets have assisted on 66.7 percent of their made field goals in three games, 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 21-of-34 free throws to UTRGV’s 16-of-20 (goal of making more than opponent tries accomplished).
• Pastner meter 3 (guard rebounding): Tech’s guards combined for 13 of Tech’s 23 defensive rebounds, six of those by Brandon Alston.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Junior forward Abdoulaye Gueye scored a career-high 13 points (3-8 FG, 5-8 FT, all career highs), topping his previous best of six in Tech’s last game against Bethune-Cookman. His total included a pair of three-point field goals, the first of his career. Against B-CU, his two free throws with seven seconds remaining helped seal the win and gave him a career-best six points, all from the free throw line.
• Junior guard Brandon Alston, a graduate transfer from Lehigh, has started all three games and scored in double figures in each. The 6-5 guard came up big with a career-high 20 points against UTRGV, including 4-for-4 from the floor and 13 points in the second half. It was his 17^th career double-digit scoring game. His previous career best was 18 three times at Lehigh.
• Alston continues to get himself to the free throw line, hitting 6-of-8 against UTRGV, and is a team-high 19-of-23 (82.6 percent) for the season.
• Ben Lammers has scored in double figures in all three games this season, but tallied a season-low 14 points against UTRGV after sitting six minutes with an ankle injury. Still he grabbed seven rebounds and blocked three shots. It was his 34^th double-figure scoring game since the beginning of the 2016-17 season. Lammers went 6-of-9 from the floor and had converted 64.1 percent of his field goals this season.
• Lammers has 188 blocks in his career, which ranks No. 5 in Tech history and he needs 11 to catch Malcolm Mackey (199 from 1990-93) for fourth place
• Point guard Jose Alvarado dished a season-high six assists and scored eight points (4-6 FG) against UTRGV despite playing only 28 minutes due to second-half foul trouble. In three games, Alvarado has 14 assists against six turnovers.
• Freshman guard Curtis Haywood II scored a career-best 11 points, his first double-figure game, going 3-for-8 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the line. He also had six assists and four steals in 37 minutes, by far his longest playing time of the season.
• Freshmen forwards Evan Cole (seven points) and Moses Wright (five points) both notched season/career highs in points.