January 28, 2018

Post-Game Notes (Game 21)

Jan. 28, 2018

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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Georgia Tech starting lineup: Alston, Alvarado, Okogie, Gueye, Lammers
First subs for Georgia Tech: Jackson for Alston, 11:43 – 1^st half
On the floor for Georgia Tech at the end: Alston, Alvarado, Okogie, Gueye, Lammers
Opening tap won by Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech has won the opening tap eight times in 21 games this season
Series record vs. Clemson: Georgia Tech is 62-69 overall, 42-25 at home, 1-2 under Josh Pastner, 4-13 vs. Brad Brownell
Current series streak: Clemson won the last two meetings
Georgia Tech is 9-5 at McCamish Pavilion this season, 69-35 in its sixth season in the building, 26-9 under Josh Pastner
Georgia Tech is 1-5 on the road this season, 1-6 away from McCamish Pavilion
Georgia Tech’s next game: Jan. 31, 8 p.m., vs. Syracuse (McCamish Pavilion)

TEAM NOTES

Georgia Tech has had its full roster to practice only for the last six 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 38 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.
Jose Alvarado and Ben Lammers have started every game this season. Lammers has started Tech’s last 58 consecutive games.
Georgia Tech’s playing rotation this season features four freshmen and a first-year graduate transfer who have combined to start 48 games and log 47 percent of the Yellow Jackets’ total minutes.
Tech has lost four straight for the first time since the last five games of the 2014-15 season, and head coach Josh Pastner has lost four straight for the first time in his head coaching career.
Tech has scored 70 points or more in back-to-back games for the first time this season but lost both games.
Tech lost for the third time this season when out-shooting its opponent from the floor. The Jackets are 10-3 in such games, 31-5 under Josh Pastner. Tech has never won a game under Pastner in which it shot a lower percentage than its opponent.
Clemson’s 10 three-point field goals were the most allowed by Tech in an ACC game this season and most since Coppin State made 12 on Dec. 27. The Jackets came into the game leading the ACC in three-point percentage defense (27.6 percent).
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).
Pastner remains two wins shy of 200 for his head coaching career (198-100).
Tech has started the same lineup for the past nine games, with Abdoulaye Gueye playing the “4” position. The Yellow Jackets have used six different starting lineups this season.
Tech committed only nine turnovers against Clemson, its first game under 10 since opening the ACC schedule with seven at Notre Dame. The Jackets had committed 49 turnovers in its previous three games (18 vs. Virginia, 15 at North Carolina, 16 at Florida State) after averaging just 10.8 turnovers per game in its first four ACC games. For the season, Tech has committed 12.9 turnovers per game this season, and 12.4 vs. ACC teams, both figures down from last season.
Tech went 15-of-19 from the free throw line against Clemson and is 39-of-49 (79.6 percent) in its last two games. The Jackets improved to 71.7 percent for the season, including a combined 80.8 percent (139-for-172) from Josh Okogie and Jose Alvarado, their two most frequent free throw shooters.

PASTNER’S KEY METRICS

Assists to made field goals: Tech assisted on 16 of 25 made field goals (64 percent) against Clemson, its best ratio in a single game since getting 17 assists on 21 field goals against Grambling State 0n Dec. 1. Tech’s nightly goal is 60 percent. The Jackets have assisted on 53.9 percent of their made field goals for the season (51.6 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 15-of-19 free throws to Clemson’s 6-of-9 (goal of making more than opponent tries accomplished). For the season, Tech has converted 312 free throws, while opponents have attempted 333. 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 12.4 in ACC games, down from 13.3 last season.
Guard rebounding: Tech’s guards combined for seven of Tech’s 20 defensive rebounds against Clemson. Tadric Jackson, Jose Alvarado and Josh Okogie are all averaging four or more rebounds per game this season.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Josh Okogie has scored in double figures in his last three games after having a 25-game streak of double-digit games snapped against Virginia (nine points). The sophomore guard has scored in double figures 44 times in 50 career games. He has scored 30 or more three times (two vs. ACC), 20 or more 14 times (seven times in an ACC game).
Okogie has averaged 18.3 points per game in his 13 games back on the court, including 18.0 in ACC games so far (sixth-best in league rankings). He averaged 16.1 points as a freshman, 17.1 against the ACC. The 6-4 sophomore has hit 41.5 percent of his shots from three-point range and 81.1 percent from the free throw line this season. Okogie has at least one three in 11 of his 13 games this season, including his first seven straight.
In eight games against top-25 opponents Georgia Tech has hosted at McCamish Pavilion, Okogie has averaged 20.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. He has shot 49 percent (50-of-102) from the floor, 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from three-point range and 79.4 percent (58-of-73) from the free throw line.
Okogie is averaging 7.0 rebounds per game in ACC play, 6.2 for the season (17^th-best in the ACC), after grabbing six against Clemson. He has snared 29 rebounds in his last three games.
Okogie has 22 assists in his last six games, a 3.7 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 95, an average of 7.3 per game that leads the ACC. He averaged 6.5 as a freshman, which ranked third in the ACC.
Jose Alvarado has scored in double figures in three straight games and has averaged 17.0 over that stretch, hitting 17-of-35 from the floor and 9-of-18 from three-point range.
Alvarado has hit at least one three-point field goal in seven consecutive games (17-of-37). He is hitting 40.5 percent of his threes in ACC games, 37.2 percent for the season.
Alvarado logged his fifth 40-minute game of the season against Clemson. He ranks seventh in the ACC averaging 35.1 minutes per game, fifth in the ACC in average minutes per conference game (38.4). After missing nearly the entire second half of the Coppin State game with a head injury, Alvarado has played 345 minutes in Tech’s last nine games, sitting out just 15 minutes.
Abdoulaye Gueye has averaged 10.2 points (39-of-66 FG, 59.1 percent) and 6.3 rebounds in nine games since sitting out the Coppin State game with an ankle injury. He has scored in double figures in three straight games and five altogether during that stretch. Making his ninth straight start and 17^th of the season against Clemson, he scored 14 points (7-14 FG) with eight rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots, and played a career-high 38 minutes.
Gueye has scored 92 points in the nine games since sitting out Coppin State on Dec. 27. He had scored 70 points in 39 career games prior to Coppin State.
Ben Lammers has 16 double-digit scoring games this season after scoring 10 against Clemson with nine rebounds. He has averaged 11.9 over his last three games.
Lammers blocked one shot against Clemson, improving his career total to 234 blocks, good for sole possession of fourth place in Tech history and needing nine to catch John Salley (243 from 1982-86) for third place.
Brandon Alston hit a pair of first-half threes against Clemson, breaking a three-game drought (0-for-3). He has scored 13 points in his last two games.
Lammers is averaging 36.0 minutes this season, sixth-most in the ACC (37.4 mpg vs. the ACC), while Okogie averages 34.8 (35.8 in ACC games), but he has not played enough games to qualify for the league rankings.
Lammers has creeped into Georgia Tech’s top 20 all-time leading rebounders, currently standing 16^th with 694. He needs 10 to catch Lenny Horton (704 from 1977-80) for 15^th place.
Jackson continues to close in on the 1,000-career-point-mark, currently at 986. At his current average of 12.1 points per game, it will take the senior guard two more games to become the 44^th Georgia Tech player to reach 1,000. Lammers has 925 career points, and would need seven games at his current 11.7 per game rate to reach 1,000.