Georgia Tech vs. Louisville
Sunday, January 2, 2022 | 6 p.m. ET | Atlanta, Ga. | McCamish Pavilion
Television: ESPN2
Play-by-Play: Mike Monaco | Analyst: Dan Bonner
Radio: Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports (In Atlanta: 680 AM/93.7 The Fan | XM 371, SiriusXM app 371 | Listen Online | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets App | TuneIn
Play-by-Play: Andy Demetra | Analyst: Randy Waters
NOTICE TO TICKET HOLDERS
Tickets for the Tech-Louisville game, which was moved from Saturday, remain valid on the rescheduled date Sunday. Season ticket members who are unable to attend at the new date and time can exchange their Louisville tickets for any remaining home game through their online account – www.ramblinwreck.com/myaccount.
Questions or issues regarding tickets can be addressed with the Georgia Tech Ticket Office via e-mail at tickets@athletics.gatech.edu.
THE FLATS – Returning to action following an 11-day hiatus, Georgia Tech begins the New Year 2022 at home, hosting Atlantic Coast Conference foe Louisville for a 6 p.m. tip Sunday at McCamish Pavilion.
Tech (6-5, 0-1 ACC) last played Dec. 21, outlasting crosstown foe Georgia State, 72-62, in overtime, for its first win in the month of December. The defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion Yellow Jackets had dropped consecutive games to top-25 teams Wisconsin, LSU and USC, and its only ACC game to date, a 79-63 loss to North Carolina on Dec. 5. Tech had won five in a row prior to that, including an 88-78 road win at Georgia, in the month of November.
Reigning ACC Tournament MVP Michael Devoe (Orlando, Fla.), the ACC’s leading scorer (21.0 points per game) and No. 2 three-point shooter (45.9 percent, 2.80 made per game), leads the Jackets along with senior forward Jordan Usher (Canton, Ga.), averaging 14.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.
Louisville (8-4, 2-0 ACC) has defeated NC State and Wake Forest in ACC play, rallying for a 73-69 victory Wednesday night at home over the Demon Deacons, and capturing a 73-68 road win over NC State back on Dec. 4. The Cardinals have split their last six games following a 5-1 start to their season.
Sunday’s game will be televised live on ESPN2, with the online live stream of the broadcast available through the ESPN app. Radio coverage will be on the Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports and flagship station WCNN (680/93.7 the Fan), and on satellite radio (XM channel 371, SiriusXM app 371).
Ready for conference play 🐝#TogetherWeSwarm pic.twitter.com/i8uRFDiphb
— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) December 29, 2021
THE OPENING TIP
THE OPENING TIP
- Home front – Georgia Tech brings a 5-3 home floor record into Sunday night’s game, while Louisville is 1-2 in road games this season. Eight of the Yellow Jackets’ 11 games prior to the Christmas break were played at McCamish Pavilion.
- PPD – Two games were postponed since Tech last played, a Dec. 23 home game against Alabama A&M and a Dec. 29 road game at Syracuse. Neither game has a makeup date.
- Prepped for ACC play – Tech is coming off a stretch of four straight games against power conference foes in the month of December, three of whom were ranked in the nation’s top 25 (No. 23/21 Wisconsin, No. 25/24 LSU, No. 10/9 USC). It was the first time the Yellow Jackets have faced as many as three top-25 teams in its non-conference schedule since the 1995-96 season. That season, the Yellow Jackets went 2-3 against No. 4 Georgetown, No. 17 Michigan, No. 5 Kentucky, No. 20 Louisville and No. 2 Massachusetts.
- Gang rebounding – Tech has outrebounded seven of its 11 opponents this season and has a plus-3.1 rebound margin collectively, the best mark for the Yellow Jackets in five-plus seasons under head coach Josh Pastner. Tech has finished a season on the plus side of rebounding margin only once in that span (+0.1 in 2017-18).
- Mikey likes it – Michael Devoe remains the ACC leader in scoring average (21.0 ppg) and is No. 2 three-point percentage (45.9), and ranks No. 10 and 21, respectively, in the nation on those categories. He is coming off a season-low 8-point game against Georgia State.
- Climbing the ladder – After beginning the season No. 36 in career points at Tech, the 6-5 guard has jumped to 24th on the Tech career points list with 1,359 points, passing such Tech luminaries as Iman Shumpert, Drew Barry, Jarrett Jack, Michael Maddox and Tico Brown. He needs five points to pass 23rd-place Bobby Kimmel (1.363 from 1954-57).
- Hot streak – Jordan Usher, who scored a career-high 30 points in Tech’ Dec. 21 win over Georgia State, is averaging 18.7 points and 7.3 rebounds over his last three games, having hit 18-of-37 shots from the floor and 7-of-13 threes.
- Getting Moore done – Khalid Moore has averaged 8.2 points over Tech’s last five games, after scoring just 23 points in the Jackets’ first six games of the season. He has hit 15-of-25 from the floor over that stretch.
- Two-point conversion – Splitting the point guard duties nearly evenly so far this season, Kyle Sturdivant and Deivon Smith have combined to average 12.4 points and 4.0 assists over 11 games, while compiling a 44:38 assist/turnover ratio. Sturdivant started Tech’s first eight games, while Smith has started four. They both started and played together for much of Tech’s win over Charleston Southern in the absence of Michael Devoe.
- Big3 – To replace ACC Player of the Year Moses Wright, Tech has turned to a trio of big men in junior Rodney Howard, who has started all 11 games, and sophomores Saba Gigiberia and Jordan Meka. With Howard slowed by an ankle injury, Gigiberia and Meka stepped up to play nearly 35 minutes in Tech’s victory over Georgia State and contribute 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Some of our favorite photos 2021 had to offer this season 📸 (thread)#TogetherWeSwarm pic.twitter.com/7S0smz04fU
— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) December 31, 2021
Pt.2 pic.twitter.com/fysudinATy
— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) December 31, 2021
Pt.3 pic.twitter.com/4D7E1xBRGb
— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) December 31, 2021
SERIES NOTES VS. LOUISVILLE
- Of the four most recent newcomers to the expanded ACC, Tech has the longest history with Louisville, meeting 28 times prior to the Cardinals joining the conference.
- Louisville won the first seven games between the two teams as ACC brethren before Tech broke through with a 64-58 home win over the Cardinals in the second meeting of the 2019-20 season. It snapped a nine-game losing skid in the series that dated back to 1999.
- The Cardinals won the teams’ only 2020-21 game, 74-58 at the KFC Yum! Center, and has won 10 of the last 11 meetings.
- Tech went 3-6 against the Cardinals with Whack Hyder as its head coach, all of those games between 1958 and 1965.
- After a 12-year hiatus, Tech was 2-2 vs. Louisville when both teams were members of the Metro Conference in the late 1970s. Dwane Morrison was the Yellow Jackets’ head coach for all those games, and Denny Crum was on the Cardinals’ bench.
- After another long break, the teams met 13 times between 1988 and 1999, with Bobby Cremins and Crum on the opposing benches in all those games. The Yellow Jackets went 8-5 against the Cardinals during this time. Three of the meetings took place at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, and six at Freedom Hall.
- The other four were played at the Georgia Dome. Tech won three of those, including the first-ever college basketball game played in the facility, and before the largest crowd ever to witness a college game in the state of Georgia at the time (28,885). That game will be forever remembered in Tech lore after James Forrest launched a half-court heave on an inbounds play that dropped through the net at the buzzer for an 87-85 Yellow Jacket victory,
- The teams have met seven times when both were ranked among the nation’s top 25 teams, and Tech has won four of those meetings.
- Tech coach Josh Pastner went 2-2 against Louisville during his seven-year stint as the head coach at Memphis and is now 3-7 against the Cardinals. The Jackets are 1-3 against Chris Mack-coached Cardinal teams.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship in 2021 after finishing fourth in the regular season. Tech has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, winning four ACC Championships (1985, 1990, 1993, 2021), playing in the NCAA Tournament 17 times and playing in two Final Fours (1990, 2004). Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball on social media by liking their Facebook Page, or following on Twitter (@GTMBB) and Instagram. For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
