Nov. 26, 2002
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s basketball team, which opened its 2002-03 season impressively Saturday with a 38-point win, hosts 18th-ranked Georgia at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at Alexander Memorial Coliseum at McDonald’s Center.
The sold-out game will be televised regionally on Fox Sports Net South, and can be heard on the Georgia Tech-ISP Radio Network (WQXI-790 AM, WMGP-98.1 FM, WSNY-FM 100.1, WLKQ-FM 102.3, WTSH-FM 107.1).
Tech opened the campaign with a 113-75 victory Saturday over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, setting a high scoring mark under head coach Paul Hewitt. Georgia (1-1) defeated Belmont, 87-71, Saturday after an opening 77-71 loss to Texas.
“We did what we were supposed to do [Saturday],” said Hewitt. “The competition gets a lot tougher on Wednesday. Georgia has won at some pretty impressive places like Florida, Kentucky. They’ve been to the tournament the last two years, and their players have come in here and won. This building and atmosphere is not going to shake those guys. If we don’t come ready to play, they’re going to walk out of here with a win.
“It’s an important rivalry. I’m still somewhat new to it, but it’s even more important this year because they are ranked, and it’s the first real competition we will face. The exhibitions and the first regular-season game didn’t test us mentally. These guys are going to test us.”
Georgia has won the last three meetings with Tech, including a 95-82 win in Athens last season and a 75-70 win the last time the teams met in Atlanta. Tech holds a 28-8 lead in games played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, an has a 97-81 overall lead in the series.
Five players scored in double figures for Tech against UAPB, led by a career-best 28 points from Marvin Lewis, a 6-4 junior guard from Germantown, Md. Lewis exceeded his previous best by six points, making 10 of 16 field goals, 3-of-6 from three-point range and 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
Also impressive Saturday were the collegiate debuts of 6-10 freshman postman Chris Bosh (Lancaster, Texas) and 6-3 freshman point guard Jarrett Jack (Fort Washington, Md.). Bosh scored 26 points (7-of-14 field goals, 12-of-15 free throws) and took 14 rebounds (10 on the offensive glass), while Jack scored 10 points and had 12 assists, the most by a Tech player in eight seasons.
Ed Nelson, a 6-8 sophomore from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and B.J. Elder, a 6-4 sophomore from Madison, Ga., round out the Tech starting five. Elder, who averaged 9.9 points and made the ACC All-Freshman team last season, is expected to play after sitting out Saturday’s game with a sore foot. Nelson, the 2002 ACC Rookie of the Year, scored 12 points with 11 rebounds against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Isma’il Muhammad, a 6-6 sophomore from Atlanta, and Anthony McHenry, a 6-7 sophomore from Birmingham, Ala., are Tech’s primary backcourt subs. Muhammad started in Elder’s place against UAPB and scored 15 points with nine rebounds. McHenry played 26 minutes, scoring seven points with six rebounds and five assists.
In the frontcourt, Tech can bring 7-1 sophomore Luke Schenscher (Hope Forest, South Australia), who scored eight points with six rebounds against UAPB, as well as Robert Brooks (Saginaw, Mich.), a 6-8 junior, and Theodis Tarver (Monroe, La.), a 6-9 freshman, giving the Jackets a deep frontcourt.
Georgia’s starting five includes 6-3 junior Rashad Wright (10.5 points per game) and 6-4 senior Ezra Williams (17.5) in the backcourt, along with 6-7 Jarvis Hayes (13.5) and 6-7 Damian Wilkins (12.5) at the forwards and 6-7 Chris Daniels (16.0) at center.
“You’ve got a guy like Jarvis Hayes, Damian Wilkins, Ezra Williams, who seems to be their best player right now,” Hewitt said. “Those are three guys who don’t need a screen to score. They can do it on their own. On top of that, they do a great job of executing their half-court offense.
“Last year, we were a young team. I thought we scrapped and got ourselves back in the game. But this team is a little bigger and has more physical ability. But that doesn’t mean a lot against guys like they have. We need to match their strength and maturity.”
GEORGIA TECH (1-0) VS. GEORGIA (1-1)7 p.m.; November 27, 2002Alexander Memorial Coliseum at McDonald's Center
TV: Fox Sports Net South; Dave Neal pbp; Dan Bonner, color Radio: Georgia Tech/ISP Network (WQXI-AM 790; WMGP-FM 98.1, WSNY-FM 100.1, WLKQ-FM 102.3, WTSH-FM 107.1); Wes Durham, pbp; Randy Waters, color Tech Record Breakdown: Home: 1-0; Away: 0-0; Neutral: 0-0 Series Breakdown vs. Georgia: Overall: Tech leads 97-81 Last meeting: 12/9/01 in Athens, UGA 95-82 vs. UGA at AMC: Tech leads 28-8 Tech at AMC: 455-158 (47th season) Tech Coach Paul Hewitt: 99-56 (.639), 6th season overall 33-29 (.532), 3rd season at Tech 15-17 (.469), vs. the ACC UGA Coach Jim Harrick: 452-228 (.665), 23rd season overall 49-46 (.516), 4th season at UGA Next for Tech: Dec. 1 vs. Gardner-Webb, 1 p.m. Next for UGA: Nov. 30, at Minnesota
Series vs. Georgia Georgia Tech leads the overall series, 97-81, but Georgia has won the last three meetings in the series, defeating the Yellow Jackets 95-82 last year in Athens, 75-70 two years ago at Alexander Memorial Coliseum and 70-68 in 1999 in Athens. Tech’s last win was an 84-79 triumph on Dec. 13, 1998, at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
The last six meetings between the two teams have been decided by an average of 5.3 points, with last year’s meeting (13 points) the largest margin for either team.
Georgia’s three-game winning streak is its longest in the series since it won seven in a row between 1980 and 1984. Tech had won 10 of 14 meetings prior to that.
This is also the first time the Bulldogs have been ranked in the Top 25 when Tech has faced them since Dec. 19, 1990. On that day, an unranked Tech team defeated Georgia, 112-105, in triple-overtime at the Omni.
Basketball Before Football – Rare, Indeed
Wednesday will mark only the fifth time that the basketball game between Georgia Tech and Georgia has occurred before the football game between the two state rivals in a given school year. The other four all occurred in the 1970s when Dwane Morrison was the head coach, on the Friday night before the football game on Saturday.
Year Basketball Date/Winner Football Date/Winner1974-75 Nov. 29 (UGA, 86-67) Nov. 30 (GT, 34-14)1976-77 Nov. 26 (GT, 64-43) Nov. 27 (UGA, 13-10)1977-78 Nov. 25 (GT, 75-58) Nov. 26 (GT, 16-7)1978-79 Dec. 1 (GT, 75-51) Dec. 2 (UGA, 29-28)
Elder Returns for Georgia
B.J. Elder, Tech’s 6-4 sophomore guard, will be back after sitting out Saturday’s opener with Arkansas-Pine Bluff while nursing a sore left foot. Elder, who made the ACC All-Freshman team last season after averaging 9.9 points a game, has experienced the problem on-and-off during the pre-season. He returned to practice Sunday.
X-rays and other tests have not revealed any damage to the foot, which he broke in the final game of his senior year at Morgan County High School.
Tech Against Ranked Teams
Georgia Tech has won eight games against nationally-ranked opponents against 15 losses in two seasons under Paul Hewitt.
At home, however, Tech is 3-5 against nationally-ranked opposition, and 5-6 against ranked teams in the city of Atlanta (including games at Philips Arena and the Georgia Dome).
One Win to 100 for Hewitt
Georgia Tech’s next victory will be the 100th for Tech head coach Paul Hewitt in his career. In his sixth season as a head coach, Hewitt has a record of 99-56, including a 33-29 mark in his third season with the Yellow Jackets.
Hewitt had a 66-27 record in three seasons at Siena.
