Tech Visits Iowa for ACC/Big Ten Challenge

GEORGIA TECH VS. IOWA (ACC/Big Ten Challenge)

• Tuesday, November 29, 2022 | 9 p.m. EST | Iowa City, Iowa | Carver-Hawkeye Arena
• Television:  ESPN2
• Play-by-Play:  Mark Neely  |  Analyst: Kevin Lehman
• Radio: Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports (In Atlanta: 680 AM/93.7 FM | SXM channel 381, SXM app 971 | Listen Online | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets App | TuneIn
• Play-by-Play: Andy Demetra  |  Analyst: Randy Waters

THE FLATS – On the road for the fourth time in seven games, Georgia Tech travels to Iowa City to face Iowa at 9 p.m. Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Tech (4-2) returned to the win column Saturday with an 80-61 victory over North Alabama at home. The win followed the Yellow Jackets’ first two losses of the season against Utah (68-64) and Marquette (84-60) in the Fort Myers Tip-Off. Before that, Tech put together its first 3-0 start since the 2015-16 season with home wins over Clayton State and Northern Illinois sandwiched around a last-second 59-57 victory at cross-town foe Georgia State.

Iowa (5-1) split a pair of games last week in the Emerald Coast Classic, edging Clemson (74-71) before dropping its first game of the season to TCU (79-66). The Hawkeyes have home court wins against Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina A&T and Omaha, as well as a road win at Seton Hall.

Tuesday’s game will be televised live nationally on ESPNU, with a live stream available on the ESPN app. Radio coverage is on the Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports and flagship station 680 the Fan (680 AM/93.7 FM), and also on satellite radio (SiriusXM channel 381, SXM app 971.

TECH IN THE ACC/BIG TEN CHALLENGE

• Georgia Tech has a 9-12 mark in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge following last season’s home loss to Wisconsin.
• Northwestern has been Tech’s most frequent opponent, having met five times in the Challenge. The Yellow Jackets dropped the first two, then won the next two before the Wildcats prevailed in 2018. Tech is 1-1 at home, Northwestern 2-1.
• Tech and Penn State have met three times in the annual event, with the Nittany Lions taking two of the three meetings.
• Tech has played Illinois (2012 and 2013), Nebraska (2019 and 2020) and Northwestern (2010 and 2011, 2017 and 2018) in consecutive years.
• Tech has played nine “home” games in the series and has a 6-4 record in those contests. Four of the games were played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, where Tech defeated Wisconsin (2001) and Michigan (2004) and went 1-1 against Penn State (2006, 2008). Two others were played at Philips Arena, an 80-77 loss to Michigan in the first Challenge game in 1999, and a 76-60 loss to Northwestern in 2011.
• The Yellow Jackets have a 3-8 mark in ACC/Big Ten Challenge games on the road. The Yellow Jackets’ scored a 73-53 win at Ohio State in 2003, the season in which Tech went on to reach the NCAA Championship game, won at Northwestern in 2014 and at Nebraska in 2020. Tech also has visited Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan State, Indiana and Northwestern (three times).
• Maryland, Purdue and Rutgers are the only Big Ten teams the Yellow Jackets have not faced in the annual series.

Deebo Coleman (11.2 ppg) leads three Yellow Jackets averaging in double figures. (photo by Clyde Click)

SERIES VS. IOWA

• Georgia Tech and Iowa have split two prior meetings, both games at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Yellow Jackets lost an 83-67 game to the Hawkeyes in the 2000 ACC/Big Ten Challenge, and pulled out a 79-78 victory in a second-round game in the 2003 Post-Season NIT.
• Tech is 2-0 against teams coached by Hawkeyes’ head coach Fran McCaffery, defeating his UNC Greensboro team in 2007, and his Siena team in 2009, both games in Atlanta.
• B.J. Elder, the Tech guard who knocked down the game-winning basket in the 2003 meeting, is currently the Yellow Jackets’ director of player personnel.
• Sherman Dillard, in his 13th season as assistant coach at Iowa, was an assistant coach at Georgia Tech under Bobby Cremins from 1988-94. In between, he was the head coach at Indiana State and his alma mater, James Madison.

BUZZ BYTES

• Tech changed its starting lineup for the second straight game against North Alabama, interesting Miles Kelly and Jalon Moore for Lance Terry and Kyle Sturdivant, who had started the Yellow Jackets’ first five games. Ja’von Franklin started his second straight game at the “5” spot in place of Rodney Howard, while Deebo Coleman and Deivon Smith remained in the starting five for the sixth straight game.
• Five players in double figures for second time this season (six reached double figures vs. Clayton State). All eight rotation players who saw action made the scoring column.
• Tech has utilized a nine-player rotation in each of its first four games. All nine scored points against Clayton State and Northern Illinois, while eight registered in the scoring column at Georgia State. Seven tallied against Utah, nine of 10 scored against Marquette and all eight scored against North Alabama. Tristan Maxwell did not play due to an injury.
• After shooting season lows in each game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off, Tech rebounded with its best shooting effort of the season – 59.6 percent – and was equally accurate in each half, connecting on 58.1 percent before intermission and 61.9 percent after.
• Tech has won the turnover battle in five of six games, doing so against North Alabama despite committing a season-high 14. The Lions committed 16. The Yellow Jackets have a season turnover margin of plus-3.5.
• Tech has limited its foes to 24.8-percent from three-point range this season, holding North Alabama to just 4-of-18. Only Utah (31.3 percent) and Marquette (39.1 percent) have connected on 30 percent or better.
• Tech has held four of its six opponents under 90 points per 100 possessions in KenPom.com’s metric, and the Jackets are at 96.6 for the season, No. 78 in the nation. The only exceptions – Utah and Marquette – were both above 100.
• Tech’s offensive efficiency against North Alabama (117.8) was its best since the season opener against Clayton State.
• Deebo Coleman has made a three in all six games this season, and has scored in double figures in four of six games.
• Deivon Smith has scored in double figures in four of Tech’s six games. He matched his career best in points as a Yellow Jacket with 16 against North Alabama. He scored 16 against North Carolina and Clemson last season.
• Smith has 14 assists in his last three games and leads the Yellow Jackets with 3.2 per game. He also has 19 rebounds in the last three games and is second on the team at 6.0 per game.
• Jalon Moore has scored in double figures twice this season – the opener vs. Clayton State (11 pts) and North Alabama (13). He tied his career best against the Lions.
• Lance Terry is 4-of-8 from three-point range in his last two games. He was 0-for-3 in the three games prior after going 4-for-8 in the opener vs. Clayton State. He reached double figures for the second time this season against North Alabama.
• Miles Kelly has scored in double figures in four of six games. He failed to make a three-pointer for the second straight game, however, and is 0-for-5 in the last two games.
• Ja’von Franklin blocked two shots against UNA and has 16 in six games this season, just four shy of Tech’s leading total of the 2021-22 season (20 by Rodney Howard).

B.J. Elder’s sank the game-winning basket for the Yellow Jackets to beat Iowa, 79-78, in the last meeting between the teams in 2003.

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.