Feb. 17, 2014
Complete Game Notes | Coach Gregory Monday Presser | Gregory on ACC Teleconference | ACC Network affiliates | Watch live online
THE FLATS – Resuming its four-game homestand after a weekend bye in the schedule, Georgia Tech takes on 5th-ranked Duke in a 9 p.m. regionally-televised game Tuesday night at sold-out McCamish Pavilion.
The ACC Network (WATL-TV in Atlanta) will air television coverage of the game. Radio coverage of the game will be provided by the Georgia Tech IMG Sports Network and can be heard in Atlanta on All News 106.7 FM. The Tech radio broadcast can be heard nationally on satellite radio (Sirius ch. 119, XM ch. 191).
Tech (13-12, 4-8 ACC), 2-4 at home in conference play this season, rallied Thursday night at McCamish Pavilion for a 74-71 victory over Boston College in a game postponed one night due to the snow and ice storm in Atlanta. Tech is tied with Wake Forest for 11th place in the ACC standings.
In its third season under head coach Brian Gregory, Tech has played its entire conference schedule to date with no more than nine scholarship players, sometimes with as few as seven, as it did for most of the game at Wake Forest and the entire contests against Clemson and Virginia. Senior guard Trae Golden (groin) has missed two of Tech’s last three games, but sophomore forward Robert Carter, Jr., has returned from a knee injury to play a total of 40 minutes in Tech’s last two games after missing the first 10 ACC games.
Tech shot 53.8 percent from the floor, going 14-for-18 in the second half, and outrebounded the Eagles, 36-19, in the Thursday night victory. Four Tech players scored in double digits, led by Daniel Miller’s 18 points, and Marcus Georges-Hunt scored the last eight Tech points, including the game-winning three-point field goal just before the buzzer sounded.
Duke (20-5, 9-3 ACC) won a 69-67 thriller at home over Maryland Saturday evening in its last outing. The Blue Devils are alone in third place in the ACC, two games behind Virginia and 1 1/2 ahead of North Carolina and Pittsburgh. Duke leads the ACC in scoring offense (81.7 points per game), scoring margin (+14.3 ppg), field goal percentage (47.0) and three-point percentage (41.1).
Tech finishes off its homestand Saturday at 12 noon against Clemson, then looks ahead to three straight road games at Notre Dame, Florida State and Syracuse.
Fast Break Points
• Duke was ranked No. 16 in the Associated Press poll the first time the two teams met on Jan. 7 in Durham, and took a 79-57 victory in a game Tech trailed by just one point at halftime (recap and box on page 3). Tech shot 49.1 percent from the floor but was shut out at the free throw line (0-for-6). Rodney Hood scored 27 points and hit five 3-pointers.
• Tuesday night marks Duke’s first game in McCamish Pavilion. The Blue Devils last came to Atlanta during the 2011-12 season and escaped with an 81-74 win at Philips Arena.
• The Atlanta weather forecast for Tuesday calls for sunshine and a high of 66 degrees, some showers in the evening with a low of 50 degrees.
• Georgia Tech is 9-5 at McCamish Pavilion this season, but only 2-4 against the ACC. Tech’s home ACC wins are against Notre Dame (Jan. 11) and Boston College (Feb. 13).
• Georgia Tech’s last four ACC road trips have produced two wins, an overtime loss and a four-point loss. Tech has won five of its last 11 ACC road games, winning at Virginia Tech, Wake Forest (twice), Miami and Boston College in that stretch. The Yellow Jackets won only three times in 36 ACC road games before that dating back to the 2008-09 season.
• Trae Golden sat out the Boston College game, his second DNP in three games due to a groin injury suffered Jan, 29 against North Carolina. He played 18 minutes against Virginia (0 points) and eight minutes against Wake Forest 93 points).
• After missing the first 10 ACC games because of a knee injury, Robert Carter, Jr., played 16 minutes (5 points, 2-7 FG, 2 rebounds) against Virginia and 24 minutes against Boston College (10 points, 5-7 FG, 5 rebounds).
• Jason Morris has likely played his final game in a Tech uniform after breaking a bone in his right foot in Tech’s Jan. 29 game against North Carolina. The senior swingman underwent surgery Feb. 3 and is out indefinitely. He played only nine games this season.
• Tech has played its ACC games this season with as few as seven scholarship players. Carter, Jr., Morris, and guards Travis Jorgenson and Solomon Poole had combined for 22 starts before this season and were all projected as major contributors this season when practice began. They have missed a total of 60 games this season (Carter, Jr., 10, Golden 2, Jorgenson 21, Morris 16, Poole 11).
• Tech has been outrebounded in six of 12 conference games after winning the rebound battle against all 13 non-conference opponents this season. The absence of Robert Carter, Jr., the ACC’s leading rebounder at the time of his injury (9.3 per game), has been a large factor in that.
Series Notes vs. Duke
• Georgia Tech and Duke are playing twice this season for the first time since the 2009-10 season, when the teams also played each other in the ACC Tournament.
• Duke has won 30 of the last 33 games in the series and the last six in a row. The Blue Devils won the first meeting this season by a score of 79-57 on Jan. 7 in Durham.
• Duke has not yet played at McCamish Pavilion. The teams’ only meeting in Atlanta since the 2009-10 season was played at Philips Arena on Jan. 7, 2012.
• The Blue Devils won 11 of the last 13 meetings at Alexander Memorial Coliseum and posted a 21-13 lead over Tech in games played on the Jackets’ former home court, as well as a 25-16 mark in games played in Atlanta.
• Duke leads the overall series 67-23, and is 54-19 against Tech since the Jackets joined the ACC.
• Tech’s best stretch of the series occurred between 1982 and 1989, with 10 wins in 17 meetings. Tech has never won more than two in a row.
• Tech is 19-56 against Duke teams coached by Mike Krzyzewski, 12-18 in games played in Atlanta.
• Tech has won just five of 38 games played at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the first four coming in (1959, 1984, 1987 and 1996). Tech’s most recent win occurred on Mar. 3, 2004 in a 76-68 victory, which snapped a 41-game homecourt winning streak for the Blue Devils.
• Tech is 3-7 against the Blue Devils in ACC Tournament encounters. Tech defeated Duke on the way to each of its three tournament titles, including semifinal victories in 1985 and 1990 and a first-round triumph in 1993. The Blue Devils have defeated Tech three times in championship games (1986, 2005, 2010).
About Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is in its third year under head coach Brian Gregory. The Yellow Jackets have been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won three ACC Championships, played in the NCAA Tournament 16 times and played 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 (@GTMBK). For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
