Jan. 28, 2003
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech is home for a pair of important Atlantic Coast Conference games this week, beginning with a 7 p.m. nationally televised tilt against North Carolina Wednesday night at Alexander Memorial Coliseum at McDonald’s Center.
The game will be televised by ESPN and broadcast on the Georgia Tech-ISP Radio Network. Radio coverage can be heard in the Atlanta area on WQXI-AM (790), WMGP-FM (98.1), WSNY-FM (100.1), WLKQ-FM (102.3) and WTSH-FM (107.1).
Tech (9-7 overall, 2-3 in the ACC) is 8-0 on its homecourt this season, and has won 10 in a row in the Thrillerdome. Duke was the last team to defeat the Yellow Jackets in the building, on Feb. 9 of last year. North Carolina comes in at 11-7, 2-3 in the ACC, following a pair of losses last week to Maryland and NC State.
A win over the Tar Heels would even Tech’s Atlantic Coast Conference record at 3-3 and establish its best six-game mark since th 1995-96 season. The Yellow Jackets began last season 0-7 before finishing 7-9. In 2000-01, Paul Hewitt’s first season, Tech started 2-4 before winning its next two for a 4-4 mark at the halfway point of the ACC slate, and finished the season 8-8.
Tech has won four of its last six games and has won both of its ACC home games (NC State and Florida State). Three of the Jackets next four games are at home, with a trip to Clemson scheduled for next Wednesday.
“We’re getting to the time of the season where the cream needs to start rising to the top,” said head coach Paul Hewitt. “The road records will become a little more even as teams improve. The quality teams are going to start showing, and the venue is going to have less and less of an impact.”
For Hewitt, the theme for Tech remains offensive execution, which has been good at times but not all the time.
“Our problems are more along the lines of playing better offensively, being more consistent offensively,” said Hewitt. “In our last two road games, we played pretty good defensively, particularly in the first half of both games. We had opportunities to put points on the board in key moments when we had good spells of defense, and haven’t done it.
“I feel like we’re passing the ball much better than we did earlier in the year. But we’ve had shots that we haven’t knocked down, a couple of layups here, some putbacks there. Some threes that we normally knock down. We just have to go back out there each day and keep taking good shots.”
Wednesday’s game features the ACC’s top two three-point percentage shooters in Tech’s B.J. Elder (44.8 percent) and North Carolina’s Rashad McCants (43.3 percent).
“B.J. and Chris (Bosh) have been very consistent, although Chris got in some foul trouble at Duke. But we do need a consistent third scorer. Chris over the last 10 of 15 ball games has been very solid. He’s getting enough touches. One of the things that skews his numbers are the attempts he gets from the foul line.”
Georgia Tech’s starting five for the last eight games has been 6-3 freshman Jarrett Jack, 6-4 junior Marvin Lewis, 6-4 sophomore B.J. Elder, 6-10 freshman Chris Bosh and 7-1 sophomore Luke Schenscher, and the Yellow Jackets are 4-4 with that group on the floor for the opening tip. Tech has used four different starting lineups this season, with Jack and Bosh the only two players to start every game.
Tech has three players scoring in double figures for the season, led by Elder at 16.5 points a game. The sophomore ranks ninth in the ACC in scoring while hitting 48.7 percent of his field goal attempts (6th in the ACC) and 44.8 percent of his three-point tries (1st in the ACC).
Lewis, a sharpshooting junior hitting 60.5 percent of his shots in ACC games, averages 12.4 points a game and is hitting 39.0 percent of his three-point attempts overall (5th in the ACC). Bosh ranks 10th in the ACC in scoring at 15.6 points per game. The Rookie of the Year candidate, who was held without a field goal at Duke (0-for-2), leads the ACC in field goal percentage (59.6) and is second in rebounding (9.8), and is the nations top rebounder among freshmen.
Jack averages 7.4 points and 5.9 assists (fifth in the ACC), while Schenscher averages 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds for the season and is hitting 50.6 percent of his field goal tries.
Tech gets help off the bench from 6-8 sophomore Ed Nelson, Techs fourth-leading scorer at 7.8 points along with 6.6 rebounds (second on the team, 8th in the ACC), and 6-6 sophomore forward Ismail Muhammad, who averages 6.7 points and 4.3 rebounds. Anthony McHenry, a 6-7 sophomore averaging 2.3 points and 1.6 rebounds, provides excellent defense on the wing.
“They’re very young, maybe even a little younger than us,” said Hewitt. “We certainly have a size advantage, but they are extremely quick on the perimeter. I’ve been very impressed by Rashad McCants. He’s probably the most impressive players I’ve seen so far this season. We really need to make sure we get out and defend the three against them.”
TECH VS. NORTH CAROLINA
oNorth Carolina leads the all-time series with Georgia Tech, 53-15, and has won eight of the last nine meetings dating back to Dec. 22, 1998, when Tech posted a 66-64 victory at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, and 12 of the last 14.
oThe teams split their regular-season series last year. The Tar Heels won the teams first meeting, 83-77, on Dec. 1 in Chapel Hill, rallying from a nine-point deficit in the final 11 minutes for the win. Brian Morrison led North Carolina with 21 points (6-8 3FG), while Tony Akins scored a game-high 22 for Tech.
oTech returned the favor in an 86-74 triumph on Feb. 2 in Atlanta, led by a season-high 28 points from Tony Akins and a 52-point second half in which the Jackets shot 58.6 percent from the floor.
oSince Tech joined the ACC, it is 13-39 against the Tar Heels.
oAt Alexander Memorial Coliseum, Tech is 6-11 against North Carolina, and is 8-17 in all home games against the Tar Heels, including those played at the Omni in the 1980s. Counting ACC Tournament games played at the Omni and the Georgia Dome and one SIC Tournament game at the City Auditorium in 1925, Tech is 9-20 vs. Carolina in the city of Atlanta.
oIn ACC Tournament play, North Carolina has won four of six meetings, the last time a 78-49 win in 1999 in Charlotte. Both of Techs wins occurred in championship games, a 57-54 triumph in the 1985 final in Atlanta and a 77-75 win in the 1993 final in Charlotte.
oTech’s greatest success in its series with North Carolina occurred during the middle 1990s when the Jackets won five of seven meetings during one stretch. The string included three straight wins over No. 1-ranked Tar Heel teams, 77-75 on Mar. 14, 1993 in the ACC Tournament finals, 89-69 on Jan. 12, 1994 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, and 96-89 on Feb. 12, 1994 at the Dean Smith Center. (See page 162 of the Tech media guide for further details.)
THE COMFORTS OF HOME
Georgia Tech’s performance in its last four home games has only accentuated the statistical disparity between the Yellow Jackets at home and on the road this season.
Tech has not lost at home in eight tries this season, including a win over then-No. 17 Georgia in the second game of the campaign on Nov. 27 and ACC wins over NC State and Florida State in the last week. The Yellow Jackets have won 10 straight home games and 12 of 13 since last season (only loss was to Duke in that stretch). The Yellow Jackets have averaged 84.0 points per game at home this season and outscored their guests by an average of 20.5 points. Tech has shot 48.4 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent from three-point range at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, while holding its guests to 38.9 percent overall.
TECH SPUTTERS FROM LONG RANGE
In its last three games, Georgia Tech has not shot well from beyond the three-point line, hitting just 11 of 50 tries (22 percent).
B.J. Elder, the ACCs top three-point shooter in terms of percentage, is 7-of-19 during that stretch, and Marvin Lewis, the conferences fifth-best percentage shooter from that range, is 0-for-11.
Tech remains No. 2 in the league as a team (37.5 percent), but has a 34.2-percent norm in conference games.
PUTTING THE CLAMPS ON
Prior to its visit to Duke Saturday, Georgia Tech had tightened their defense, holding its last five opponents (including three ACC foes) to 62.0 points per game and 39.0 percent shooting from the floor (32.3 percent from three-point range), with Florida States 74 points and 42.2 field goal percentage the highest figures during that stretch.
Even in the first half Saturday, Tech held Duke to 43.8 percent shooting from the floor (1-of-5 from three) before the Blue Devils expoded to shoot 58.6 percent in the second half, becoming just the third team to shoot 50 percent against Tech this season.
Tech has managed to shut down three of the ACCs top scorers in NC States Julius Hodge (No. 1, 19.2 ppg before Tech), Florida States Tim Pickett (No. 4, 18.0 before Tech), and Dukes J.J. Redick (No. 6, 17.2 before Tech). The Jackets held Hodge to just nine points (1-6 FG), Pickett to 13 (5-16 FG, 3-11 on threes) and Redick to 11 (2-of-10 FG, 1-6 on threes).
Tech is 25-2 under Paul Hewitt when the opponent shoots less than 40 percent from the floor, and 36-12 when the opponent scores less than 80 points.
TOEING THE LINE
Perhaps a new trend has taken root for Georgia Tech, which shot 49 free throws in its first game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff this season. Tech has attempted more free throws than its opponent in every game but three so far (367-289 for the season).
Tech even shot more free throws than Duke in its last outing, hitting 27-of-37 attempts at Cameron Indoor Stadium in a losing effort Saturday. The Blue Devils were 24-of-33.
After a poor start this season, Tech has made 73.5 percent of its charity tosses (100-of-136) in the last six games. The Yellow Jackets have ranked last in the ACC in free throw percentage all season until now, coming in eighth currently.
The Jackets have connected on 75.0 percent in five ACC games, including a 28-for-31 effort against Florida State. Against FSU, with the Seminoles sending the Jackets to the line often late in the game, Tech was 25-of-28 in the second half, 14-of-16 in the final three minutes.
In its first two seasons under Paul Hewitt, Tech generally was on the short end when it came to getting to the line. Tech attempted more free throws than its opponent in only 19 games in two seasons, and won 18 of those.
ELDER STAYS CONSISTENT
B.J. Elder is developing into one of the best all-around players in the ACC, but has managed to stay under the radar. The 6-4 sophomore has reached double figures in 11 straight games and 14 of 15 in all this season, leading the Yellow Jackets in scoring (16.5, 9th in the ACC) and the ACC in three-point percentage (44.8) this season. He ranks sixth in the league in overall field goal percentage (48.7), and seldom turns the ball over (2.6 per 40 minutes).
The Madison, Ga., native posted his fifth 20-point game of the season with 22 at Duke Saturday. He has come up big in big games this season, also scoring 24 against Georgia, 25 against Tennessee, 19 in the Jackets first ACC game at Maryland, 24 against NC State and 18 at Wake Forest.
An underrated defender, he logged most of the minutes guarding NC State’s Julius Hodge and Florida State’s Tim Pickett, helping hold those two to a combined 15 points under their per-game averages.
Elder began to take off with 46 points in consecutive games against Tennessee and Troy State in December, when he made 11-of-16 three-point attempts, but except for a nine-point effort against Marist, he has been consistent all season.
Bidding to lead the ACC in three-point percentage, Elders closest competition currently is Rashad McCants of North Carolina (43.3). The last Tech player to lead the conference in three-point percentage was Travis Best (45.7 in 1993).
STYLIN’
Collegeinsider.com has released its Top 50 Most Eligible Bachelors in College Basketball, and Georgia Tech assistant coach Cliff Warren has been named to the list. The website devoted to college hoops releases this list annually.
Collegeinsider.com also has released its annual Fashion Power Index, ranking college basketball’s 10 best-dressed head coaches and its 10 best-dressed assistant coaches. Tech assistant Dean Keener is No. 5 on the site’s list of assistant coaches with the comment, “part of perhaps the ACCs most stylish staff.”
