Dec. 18, 2011
ATLANTA – Looking to continue building momentum following a pair of road wins before final exam week, Georgia Tech plays the first of two home games at the Arena at Gwinnett this week by hosting Alabama A&M Monday night at 7 p.m. The Yellow Jackets finish out the Gwinnett portion of their schedule Thursday against Mercer.
Complete game notes
Reed Makes Improvement
Tech Building a Brand
Tickets are $10 for general admission seating and on sale at the arena beginning at 6 p.m. There is no television coverage, but the Tech radio broadcast can be heard in Atlanta on flagship station 790 the Zone (790 AM) and True Oldies 106.7 FM, as well as nationally on Sirius channel 137.
Tech (6-4), in its first year under head coach Brian Gregory, picked up consecutive road wins at Georgia (68-56) on Dec. 7 and Savannah State (65-45) on Dec. 10 before breaking for fall semester finals. They were the first wins in back-to-back road games for the Yellow Jackets since Jan. 23 and 27, 2008.
Alabama A&M is 2-4 following an 87-57 loss at Michigan on Saturday, which was the Bulldogs’ first game in 14 days. AAMU and Tech have a pair of common opponents. The Bulldogs lost to Tulane in their opener, 72-63, in New Orleans, and absorbed an 82-45 loss at Alabama.
Following Monday’s game, Tech plays its last game at the Arena at Gwinnett Center Thursday at 7 p.m. against Mercer.
Tech continues to play solid defense early in the season. The Yellow Jackets rank second in the ACC and 12th in the nation in field goal percentage defense (36.1 pct.) and are third (26th nationally) in scoring defense (57.4 ppg). Tech has held eight of its 10 opponents under 40 percent from the field, and only three teams have score 60 points or more against the Yellow Jackets.
Offensively, Tech is averaging 65.5 points a game, 10th in the ACC, and hitting 46.5 percent of its field goal tries (5th). The Yellow Jackets have shot 50 percent or better from the floor six times, including each of the last two games.
Three Yellow Jackets are averaging double figures in scoring, led by 6-5 junior Glen Rice, Jr., of Marietta, Ga., who is scoring 13.1 points per game and and grabbing 6.6 rebounds per game, second on the team. Mfon Udofia, a 6-2 junior from Stone Mountain, Ga., averages 10.9 points per game, while Kammeon Holsey, a 6-8 sophomore forward, averages 10.3.
Tech and Alabama A&M
• Georgia Tech and Alabama A&M are meeting for the fourth time, with the Yellow Jackets having won each of the previous three games, all at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
• The teams last met on Dec. 17, 2003, Tech prevailing, 74-41, on the way to a 12-0 start.
• The closest game in the series was the very first, a 90-85 Tech victory in December of 1982.
• Tech is 12-1 all-time against teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The lone loss came to Southern University in the first round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament.
