Jan. 1, 2003
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech makes its first trip to New Orleans since 1990 Thursday when it visits Tulane in a non-conference game at 8 p.m. Eastern time at Fogelman Arena on the Tulane campus.
The game will not be televised, but will be broadcast on the Georgia Tech-ISP Radio Network. The game can be heard in Atlanta on WMGP-FM (98.1), WSNY-FM (100.1) and WTSH-FM (107.1).
The Yellow Jackets have lost four of six games since a 3-0 start and three of their last four following an 84-77 loss at No. 23 Maryland in its ACC opener Sunday. Tulane is the first of two straight non-conference games Tech will play (Cornell next on Jan. 8) before resuming the conference slate in earnest against NC State on Jan. 11.
Tech is just 1-4 away from home this season, including a pair of one-point losses to the Golden Gophers on Dec. 4 and Tennessee on Dec. 15. The Jackets are 6-16 on opponents’ home courts under head coach Paul Hewitt and 13-21 in road and neutral games combined.
Tech’s last two trips to New Orleans have been successful ones. The Yellow Jackets dispatched Tulane and Villanova to win the 1990 Sugar Bowl event in the Louisiana Superdome, and defeated Michigan State and Minnesota in the 1990 NCAA Southeast Regional, also at the Superdome, to advance to its only Final Four appearance.
Georgia Tech, which goes nine deep since freshman guard Jim Nystr?m became eligible for the Maryland game, has used four different starting lineups this season, with freshmen Jarrett Jack, a 6-3 point guard, and Chris Bosh, a 6-10 forward, the only two players to start every game.
B.J. Elder, a 6-4 sophomore who has started the last six games after missing the season opener with a sore foot, has been Tech’s leading scorer each of the last four games, averaging 19.9 points while hitting 28-of-56 from the floor (50%). Elder, who has made 15-of-27 from three-point range in that stretch, ranks fifth in the ACC in scoring at 17.0 points a game, and leads the ACC in three-point shooting (50%). Bosh, who scored 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting in Tech’s last game at Maryland, averages 14.9 points (ninth in the ACC) and leads the ACC in rebounding at 9.9 per game.
Marvin Lewis, a 6-4 sharpshooting junior averaging 10.3 points a game, returned to the starting lineup for the last three games and is averaging 10.3 points while hitting 12 of 25 field goal attempts (7-of-17 on threes) during that stretch. Jack has been steady at the point, averaging 8.7 points and 6.2 assists (fifth in the ACC), but he has struggled with his shooting in Tech’s last two games (4-17 overall, 0-5 on threes).
Luke Schenscher, Tech’s 7-1 sophomore center, returned to the starting lineup at Maryland and notched season highs of 13 points and nine rebounds (also a career high) while making 6-of-10 from the floor. He averages 7.1 points and 4.4 rebounds for the season and leads Tech in field goal percentage at 59.6.
Tech gets help off the bench from 6-8 sophomore Ed Nelson, who has started five games and averages 8.7 points and 6.7 rebounds (second on the team), and 6-6 sophomore forward Isma’il Muhammad, who has started six games and averages 8.2 points and 5.4 rebounds. Anthony McHenry, a 6-7 sophomore averaging 1.8 points and 1.6 rebounds, provides excellent defense on the wing. Robert Brooks, a 6-8 junior averaging 0.7 points and 1.3 rebounds per game, and 6-9 freshman Theodis Tarver (2.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg) add depth in the frontcourt.
Nystr?m, a 6-4 freshman from Sweden, scored three points (1-5 FG) in his debut at Maryland, and hopes to boost the Jackets’ perimeter shooting.
Series vs. Tulane (Tech leads 35-31)
*Georgia Tech lost to Tulane, 79-69, in the teams’ last meeting on Dec. 23 of last season at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, but Tech still leads the all-time series, 35-31. This is the third meeting between the two teams since Tech left the Metro Conference in 1978.
*Tech’s last meeting with Tulane in New Orleans was a 95-83 victory in the 1990 USF&G Sugar Bowl Classic in the Louisiana Superdome, and its last visit to Fogelman Arena was a 75-70 Yellow Jacket win on Feb. 11, 1978, when both teams were members of the Metro Conference.
*Tech and Tulane have been brethren in three different conferences, first the Southern Intercollegiate Conference until the Southeastern Conference formed in 1932, and the Metro Conference from 1975-78. The teams split six meetings as members of the Metro.
*Tech is 10-19 against Tulane in games played in the city of New Orleans, and 8-18 in games played at Fogelman Arena.
Three More Non-Conference Tilts Left
Georgia Tech has three non-conference games left on its schedule, Thursday night’s game at Tulane and home games against Cornell on Jan. 8 and Elon on Jan. 22.
Tech is 5-3 in its non-ACC games thus far, 4-0 at home, 0-2 on the road and 1-1 in neutral court games. The Yellow Jackets were 8-7 out of the league last year, and 9-5 in Paul Hewitt’s first season at Tech.
Tech Struggles on Offense
Save for solid shooting efforts against Marist (49.1 percent) and Troy State (55.2 percent), Georgia Tech has struggled offensively during the month of December. Tech has averaged 71.5 points in the last six games, 68.2 points in the four road games during that stretch.
In the last six games, Tech has shot 44.3 percent from the floor, close to its seasonal average, but has taken just 61 shots per game, compared to 72.3 shots in its first three games. The Yellow Jackets have shot just 39.5 percent in road games, compared to 47 percent in home and neutral site games.
The Jackets showed signs of improvement at Maryland, taking 73 shots and hitting 42.5 percent, but continue to struggle from beyond the three-point arc (4-of-18 at Maryland, 26.4 percent in road games this season).
Elder Stays On Top
B.J. Elder, Tech’s 6-4 sophomore guard, has led Tech in scoring each of the past four games, averaging 19.9 points and 3.8 assists while shooting 50 percent from the floor and 55.6 percent from three-point range. He scored 21 points against Tennessee and matched his career high of 25 against Troy State with a career-high seven assists, then scored 19 in Tech’s first ACC game at Maryland Sunday.
In the four games, he hit 15 of 27 three-point attempts, including 6-of-8 against the Trojans and 5-of-8 against Tennessee.
The Madison, Ga., native has assumed the team lead in scoring at 17.0 points a game (fifth in the ACC), and has improved his shooting percentages to 50 from three-point range (which leads the ACC) and 48.6 percent overall (tied for fourth in the ACC). He ranks second in three-pointers per game (3.12).
Elder, an ACC all-Freshman choice a year ago, has reached double figures in seven of the eight games he has played since missing the opener with a sore foot.
He scored 24 points against Georgia, which was his first game of the season, making 10 of 18 field goals and was 4-of-9 from three-point range. His final three-pointer gave Tech the lead for good at 79-77 with 1:50 to go. He sat the rest of the game after suffering leg cramps.
Lewis Coming Back
Junior guard Marvin Lewis, Tech’s most experienced player and its best outside shooter, has begun to shoot the ball better in the Yellow Jackets’ last three games after a four-game slump that took him out of the starting lineup.
The 6-4 Lewis has averaged 10.3 points in Tech’s last three games, hitting 12-of-25 shots from the floor and 7-of-17 from three-point range. He also has seven assists, five against Troy State, and 14 rebounds, including a season-high eight at Maryland, in that stretch.
Lewis played inspired basketball in his return home at Maryland Sunday, scoring 12 points, his highest total since his season-opening 28 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. He hit 5-of-8 shots and 2-of-4 from three-point range while taking a season-best eight rebounds in Tech’s seven-point loss.
Lewis has creeped back into the ACC rankings in three-point field goals per game, hitting 1.78 per game to rank 12th. His percentage for the season has risen to 35.6.
