Tech Takes On Utah in Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off

GEORGIA TECH VS. UTAH

• Monday, November 21, 2022 | 6 p.m. ET | Fort Myers, Fla. | Suncoast Credit Union Arena
• Live Stream:  FS1
• Play-by-Play: Brandon Gaudin  |  Analyst: Bill Raftery
• Radio: Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports (In Atlanta: 680 AM/93.7 FM | SXM channel 385, SXM app 975 | Listen Online | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets App | TuneIn
• Play-by-Play: Andy Demetra  |  Analyst: Randy Waters

Fort Myers, Fla. – Looking for its first 4-0 start since the 2008-09 season, Georgia Tech steps up to power conference competition this week with its appearance in the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off and an opening contest at 6 p.m. Monday night against Utah from the Pac-12 Conference.

Tech is in the Beach Division of the Fort Myers Tip-Off with the Utes, Marquette and Mississippi State. The Golden Eagles and the Bulldogs meet at 8:30 p.m. Monday. The Tech-Utah winner will face the Marquatte-MSU winner for the championship at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night, with the losers facing off for third place at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The event is being played at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida SouthWestern State College.

Tech has a pair of dominant wins over Clayton State (93-63) and Northern Illinois (68-50) sandwiched around a last-second 59-57 victory at cross-town foe Georgia State. The Yellow Jackets currently rank No. 2 in the ACC in scoring defense (56.7 points per game) while leading the conference in field goal percentage defense (33.5 pct.) and three-point percentage defense (18.3 pct.).

Utah (3-1) won its first three games against Long Island University, Cal State-Bakersfield and Idaho State by an average of 27 points before dropping a 65-55 decision at home to Sam Houston State Thursday night. Like Tech, the Utes rank high in the Pac-12 in the same defensive categories, first in scoring defense (53.8 ppg) and No. 2 in field goal percentage defense (34.0 pct.) and three-point defense (25.0 pct.).

The game will be televised nationally on FS1. Radio coverage is  on the Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports and flagship station 680 the Fan (680 AM/93.7 FM), as well as on satellite radio (SiriusXM channel 385, SXM app 975).

JACKETS AT-A-GLANCE

Georgia Tech has eight players who logged significant playing time during 2021-22 back for this seventh season under head coach Josh Pastner, looking to replace the scoring punch of of Michael Devoe and Jordan Usher, who combined to average more than 32 points per game.

Among the eight key letterwinners returning are two starters from the 2021-22 squad, both seniors in 6-3 point guard Kyle Sturdivant (7.6 ppg, 2.3 apg) and 6-11 center Rodney Howard (6.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg), as well as the backup point guard, 6-1 junior Deivon Smith (5.7 ppg, 2.0 apg) and a rising trio of sophomore perimeter players in 6-6 Dallan “Deebo” Coleman (6.2 ppg), 6-6 Miles Kelly (4.5 ppg) and 6-7 Jalon Moore (2.8 ppg). Junior 6-2 guard Tristan Maxwell and 6-8 junior forward Jordan Meka return to provide additional depth.

Pastner and his staff have augmented the eight returnees with a pair of transfers in 6-2 guard Lance Terry (14.3 ppg at Gardner-Webb) and 6-7 forward Ja’von Franklin (12.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg at South Alabama), and over the summer signed a pair of international players – 6-8 forward Freds Pauls Bagatskis from Latvia and 7-foot center Cyril Martynov of Canada.

Tech finished off the 2021-22 season 12-20 overall, 5-15 ACC (14th place in the ACC regular season standings), one year after winning the fourth conference title in program history.

The Yellow Jackets are looking for their first 4-0 start since the 2008-09 season.

SERIES VS. FORT MYERS TIP-OFF TEAMS

• Utah – Georgia Tech and Utah have never faced off in men’s basketball. The Utes will be the third Pac-12 opponent the Yellow Jackets have faced under head coach Josh Pastner. Tech lost to UCLA in China to begin the 2017-18 season, and lost to Southern California last December in the Jerry Colangelo Classic in Phoenix, Ariz.
• Marquette – Tech is 3-4 against Marquette, having lost the last three meetings in the series, including a 72-70 decision most recently in the 2014 Orlando Classic. The teams played home-and-away in 1976 and 1977, the year the Golden Eagles won the NCAA Championship under Al McGuire. The teams have met four times in early-season tournaments.
• Mississippi State – The teams have not met since 1975, and Tech leads the series 16-13. The first seven meetings took place when the teams were members of the old Southern Conference, with the Bulldogs winning five of the seven. The next 18 occurred when both teams were members of the Southeastern Conference, with the Yellow Jackets winning 11 of those. The Yellow Jackets have won three of the four meetings since exiting the SEC.

NOTABLE

• Tech is 3-0 for the first time since the 2015-16 season, and for the first time in Josh Pastner’s seven seasons on The Flats. The Jackets have not started a season 4-0 since 2008-09 (ended that season 12-19).
• Tech has started the same four-guard lineup in each game so far – Kyle Sturdivant, Deivon Smith, Lance Terry and Deebo Coleman around 6-11 center Rodney Howard.
• Tech has utilized a nine-player rotation in each of its first three games. All nine scored points against Clayton State, while eight registered in the scoring column at Georgia State and all nine did so against Northern Illinois.
• Tech scored a season-low nine points at the foul line against NIU after having averaged 17 in its first two games. The Jackets have scored 21.3 percent of their points from the stripe, compared to 14.6 in 2021-22.
• The Yellow Jackets currently rank No. 2 in the ACC in scoring defense (56.7 points per game) while leading the conference in field goal percentage defense (33.5 pct.) and three-point percentage defense (18.3 pct.).
• Tech ranks among the ACC’s top six in all rebound categories, sixth in rebound margin, first in defensive rebounds per game and second in offensive rebounds per game.
• Tech has limited its first three foes to 11-of-60 shooting from three-point range (18.3 percent). The Jackets led the ACC and were fourth nationally prior to the NIU game.
• Miles Kelly has made a three-point field goal in nine consecutive games dating back to last Feb. 21 at Syracuse. He went 0-1 at Pittsburgh the game before that. Over the eight-game stretch he is 18-for-38 (47.4 percent).
• Kelly has reached double figures for the six times in his career and in five straight games dating back to last season’s regular-season finale against Boston College. He has averaged 14.6 points over his last five games.
• Kelly has hit 26-of-58 (44.8 pct.) from three-point range over Tech’s last 16 games dating back to Jan. 23 vs. Clayton State. He was 5-for-30 over the Jackets’ first 17 games of last season.
• Deivon Smith reached double-figure points for the second time in three games and for the fifth time in a Georgia Tech uniform against NIU. He finished one rebound shy of his first career double-double, and two shy of his career best of 11 last season against Wisconsin.
• Smith matched his Georgia Tech high in assists with six, equaling the six he dished last Feb. 5 vs. Clemson.
• Ja’von Franklin scored his first double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) as a Yellow Jacket against NIU and the ninth of his career. He had eight last season at South Alabama.
• Franklin leads the ACC in blocked shots (9 total, 3.0 per game) after swatting five against NIU. That was the most blocked by a Tech player since Moses Wright had seven against Louisville on Feb. 1, 2020.

Sophomore Miles Kelly has averaged 14.6 points over his last five games. (photo by Danny Karnik)

Competitive Drive Initiative

In a unified endeavor, Georgia Tech, the Georgia Tech Foundation, Georgia Tech athletics and the Alexander-Tharpe Fund have come together to accelerate funding for student-athlete scholarships with the launch of the Competitive Drive Initiative. The initiative kicks off with the Accelerate GT Match Program, where any new gift to the A-T Fund’s Athletic Scholarship Fund made through Dec. 31 will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Georgia Tech Foundation, up to $2.5 million. Should Accelerate GT reach its $2.5 million fundraising goal, the matching gift would result in a $5 million impact for Georgia Tech athletics. To learn more and to contribute online, visit atfund.org/accelerate.

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL

Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team has completed six seasons under head coach Josh Pastner, winning the Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 2021 and making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 11 years. Tech has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won four ACC Championships (1985, 1990, 1993, 2021), played in the NCAA Tournament 17 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 (@GTMBB) and Instagram. For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com.