Dec. 9, 2005
ATLANTA –
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Georgia Tech, looking to rebound from a 91-75 decision to Georgia Wednesday night in Athens, returns home Saturday to face Tennessee State at 3 p.m. at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
The game will not be televised, but can be heard on radio, courtesy of the Georgia Tech/ISP Radio Network, on WQXI-AM (790), WTSH-FM (107.1) and XM Satellite Radio Ch. 193.
The Yellow Jackets (3-3) will be looking for win No. 100 for head coach Paul Hewitt at Georgia Tech and to stay over .500 on the season. Tennessee State (1-1) is coming off a 70-69 loss at Eastern Illinois in its conference opener Thursday night.
After Saturday’s game, Tech doesn’t play for 12 days until hosting Jacksonville on Dec. 22. The Institute will be in fall semester final exams next week. Saturday’s game marks the 32nd straight sellout of Alexander Memorial Coliseum, where the Yellow Jackets are 3-1 this season. The streak began on Dec. 6, 2003, against (drum roll) Tennessee State, on the heels of Tech’s Preseason NIT championship. The Jackets won that game, 94-43.
In its sixth season under head coach Paul Hewitt, the Yellow Jackets are 99-69 overall with four post-season appearances in five seasons.
Tech has used the same starting lineup for its first six games — 6-0 sophomore Zam Fredrick at point guard, 6-4 junior Mario West and 6-5 sophomore Anthony Morrow on the wings, 6-6 sophomore Jeremis Smith at forward, and 6-9 sophomore Ra’Sean Dickey at center.
Morrow, a Charlotte, N.C., native who is Tech’s top returning scorer from last season, leads the Jackets and ranks seventh in the ACC in scoring at 17.0 points a game. He has shot 50 percent (17-for-34) from three-point range (4th in the ACC) and is second in the conference in three-point field goals (2.83 per game). He is one of four Tech players averaging in double digits, including Dickey (12.5), Smith (12.5) and Fredrick (10.5).
Smith, from Fort Worth, Texas, has transformed himself into a force in the paint over Tech’s last three games, averaging 16.7 points and 11 rebounds over that stretch. Fully recovered from a dislocated kneecap that sidelined him for 17 games last year, Smith ranks fourth in the ACC in rebounding at 8.8 per game and leads the team with 15 steals.
The rest of the backcourt includes West, an outstanding athlete from Douglas, Ga., with high energy and excellent defensive skills (2.2 steals per game, 7th in ACC) who is averaging 6.5 points a game and making 53.8 percent of his shots from the floor, and Fredrick, a former South Carolina Mr. Basketball from St. Matthews, S.C., who has scored in double digits in four games.
Dickey, a center from Clio, S.C., scored 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the floor against Michigan State, all career highs. He ranks 24th in the ACC in scoring, 15th in field goal percentage (56.1) and 18th in rebounding (6.0).
Freshmen Lewis Clinch (7.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg), a 6-3 guard from Cordele, Ga., and D’Andre Bell (2.2 ppg, 1.2 rpg), a 6-5 guard/forward from Los Angeles, Calif., both high-scoring players in the prep ranks, are strong physically and boost Tech’s firepower from the perimeter off the bench.
Theodis Tarver, a 6-9 senior from Monroe, La., figures in heavily in the post as the most experienced player on Tech’s team, and has averaged 2.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game thus far. Freshman Alade Aminu, a 6-9 player with good offensive skills and shot-blocking capabilities, has averaged 1.0 points and 1.5 rebounds.
Series vs. Tennessee State
> Georgia Tech and Tennessee State have met once before, on Dec. 6, 2003 for a 94-43 Yellow Jackets victory at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. It was Tech’s first home game following its run to the Preseason NIT championship and part of the Yellow Jackets’ 12-0 start and eventual drive to the national championship game.
> Tigers’ coach Cy Alexander was in his first season at TSU and went 7-21, then guided his team to a 14-17 mark last year with a 9-7 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference.
