Nov. 13, 2012
Gregory Press Conference Transcript from Tuesday | Complete Game Notes
THE FLATS – Following an 18-point victory over Tulane in front of a sellout crowd Friday night, Georgia Tech continues its 98th season of basketball Wednesday night at 7 p.m. by hosting Presbyterian at the brand-new McCamish Pavilion.
The game can be heard on the radio over the Georgia Tech IMG Sports Network (790 AM, 106.7 FM in Atlanta), as well as Ch. 117 on Sirius and XM satellite radio. The game also can be viewed online at ESPN3.
Gregory has all five starters and seven letterwinners back from a team that went 11-20 a year ago and exhibited a new look of hustle, work ethic and fight. The Yellow Jackets also have added five scholarship newcomers, a recruiting class rated as high as 14th in the nation, adding depth and flexibility to every position on the floor.
Presbyterian, in its 24th season under head coach Gregg Nibert, opened its season Monday night with a 77-44 loss at Clemson. The Blue Hose, a member of the Big South Conference, went 14-15 overall last year and 8-10 in conference play.
Wednesday’s game continues a home slate of 17 games and a pre-conference stretch in which the Yellow Jackets will play eight of 12 games at home and leave the city of Atlanta only once.
JACKETS IMPRESSIVE IN TULANE WIN
Georgia Tech avenged last year’s loss to Tulane in New Orleans and stopped a three-game losing streak in the series Friday night by defeating the Green Wave, 79-61.
Kammeon Holsey, who didn’t start the game because he had missed a significant amount of practice time with an ankle injury, came off the bench less than five minutes in and wound up leading the Yellow Jackets in scoring, getting 18 points in 18 minutes. He scored seven straight points for Tech early in the second half during a 19-7 run that gave Tech control of the game.
Tech also got double-figure efforts from freshman Marcus Georges-Hunt (14 points, seven rebounds), freshman Chris Bolden (12 points) and junior Daniel Miller, who notched the third double-double of his career with 10 points and 10 boards.
Some leftovers from the Tulane game:
• Tech shot 56.1 percent from the floor, a high for the Yellow Jackets under Brian Gregory, and hit 63 percent of its shots after halftime.
• Tech outrebounded the Green Wave 47-23. The +24 margin was one off the Jackets’ high under Gregory (46-21 last year vs. Florida A&M). Five players grabbed six or more rebounds in the game.
• Robert Carter, Jr., and Marcus Georges-Hunt became the first pair of freshmen to start a season opener for Tech since Derrick Favors and Mfon Udofia did so against Florida A&M on Nov. 14, 2009.
• Tech’s three freshmen, Bolden, Carter, Jr., and Georges-Hunt, combined for just one turnover in 72 minutes.
• Tech had 18 assists on 32 field goals made, one off the team high under Gregory (19 vs. Fordham last year).
• Miller, the center, led the team with six assists, matching a career best.
TECH-PRESBYTERIAN SERIES NOTES
• Georgia Tech and Presbyterian are meeting for the eighth time in history. The Yellow Jackets have won all of the previous seven games, and all were played in Atlanta.
• Tech struggled but defeated the Blue Hose, 77-64, in the teams’ most recent meeting on Jan. 6, 2008 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
• Presbyterian was Tech’s first victory for new head coach Bobby Cremins on Nov. 30, 1981. The Blue Hose also were the Yellow Jackets’ first basketball win after becoming a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (Dec. 12, 1979).
• The teams first met on Jan. 24, 1975, and would play six times between then and 1981.
