Jan. 13, 2006
ATLANTA –
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Georgia Tech, winners of four straight games and six of its last seven, will try and win a game where it has never done so Saturday when the Yellow Jackets visit 18th-ranked NC State at 12 noon at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C.
The game will be regionally televised on the ACC’s Raycom/Jefferson-Pilot Network, airing in Atlanta on WATL, Ch. 36. The Georgia Tech/ISP Radio Network provides the radio coverage, which can be heard locally on WQXI-AM (790), and nationally on XM Satellite Radio Ch. 192.
Tech (9-4 overall, 2-0 ACC this season) has scored its most important wins of the season in the last week, a 76-67 win over Venderbilt on Jan. 3 and a 60-58 triumph over No. 11 Boston College Sunday, followed by an 85-69 win Tuesday at Centenary.
The Yellow Jackets are off to a 2-0 start in ACC play for the second straight year. Tech has not begun an ACC campaign with three straight wins since the 1995-96 season, when the Jackets won the regular-season title at 13-3.
NC State (13-2, 2-1 ACC) and Tech have both defeated No. 11 Boston College in the last week, the Wolfpack by 18 on the road Tuesday and the Jackets by two at home last Sunday. The teams have one other common opponent, UNC-Asheville, whom the Wolfpack defeated 86-56, and the Jackets by 80-52.
Tech has lost six straight games in the series with NC State, but the average margin of defeat has been 6.0 points and none of the games has been decided by more than 10.
This is Tech’s fifth road game of the season, but only its third on an opponent’s home floor. The Yellow Jackets lost to Michigan State, Georgia and Air Force this season before their 85-69 win over Centenary Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets have never won in six games in NC State’s RBC Center and have lost nine straight games in Raleigh dating back to the 1995-96 season.
“All the games are hard-fought defensively,” said Tech coach Paul Hewitt. “Herb Sendek does a great job preparing his team, and they are always ready defensively. We’ve had success guarding the Princeton-style offense, but we haven’t come up with enough points.
“North Carolina State is more like Vanderbilt in that they are aggressive and looking for shots a lot quicker. They’re going to more quick-hitters than they did before.”
After a long 12-day break between games in December and with some alterations in the starting lineup over the semester break, Tech has steadily improved on both ends of the court, allowing just 60.2 points per game over its last six games while shooting 50.3 percent from the floor.
“The kids have started to understand how they need to play with each other as opposed to just playing the game,” said Hewitt. “We have worked on some situations that really opened their eyes to how everything’s connected — half-court defense, rebounding and transition offense, half-court offense and transition defense. As they’ve figured it out, you see some individually really starting to step up.
“It was a back-to-basics type of session, but you have to give credit to the players for going out there and doing it. Another significant moment in my mind that spurred what is going on now was losing to Air Force when they shot 29 percent, and offensively we play so poorly. That was a really deflating loss for us. From that point forward, we’ve gotten a little tighter, we’re working better together. Let’s just hope it keeps going.”
Tech is playing a man short, and has just nine scholarship players available, with guard Mario West out with a sprained toe. Tech received good news Friday when senior center Theodis Tarver’s academic eligibility was restored, and he will be with the team Saturday.
The starting lineup includes 6-0 sophomore Zam Fredrick, 6-5 sophomore Anthony Morrow and 6-5 freshman D’Andre Bell on the perimeter, 6-6 sophomore Jeremis Smith at power forward and 6-9 sophomore Ra’Sean Dickey at center.
Morrow, from Charlotte, N.C., leads the Jackets and ranks sixth in the ACC in scoring at 17.3 points a game. He leads the ACC with a 46.6-percent success rate from three-point range and is third in the conference in three-point field goals (2.83 per game). He is one of three Tech players averaging in double digits, including Smith (13.3) and Dickey (10.2).
Fredrick, from St. Matthews, S.C., has averaged 9.6 points, including six double-figure games, and 4.2 assists this season. Bell, a 6-5 wingman from Los Angeles, Calif., has averaged 7.6 points per game over the last five, including two double-digit efforts. He averages 4.3 points and 1.8 rebounds for the season.
Smith, from Fort Worth, Texas, has transformed himself into a force in the paint since Tech’s near miss at Michigan State, posting four double-doubles. Fully recovered from a dislocated kneecap that sidelined him for 17 games last year, Smith is the ACC’s second-leading rebounder at 8.9 per game, is hitting 51.4 percent of his shots from the floor and leads the team with 25 steals (8th in ACC).
Dickey, from Clio, S.C., moved back into the starting lineup after a six-game absence at Centenary, replacing Tarver. Dickey scored 19 points, hitting 7-of-11 shots from the floor, with seven rebounds against the Gents. He is Tech’s top percentage shooter at 56.9 percent and leads the team with 24 blocked shots.
Off the bench, freshman Lewis Clinch, a 6-3 guard from Cordele, Ga., returned to the court against Boston College after missing five games with a stress fracture in his left leg. He scored five points, including a key three, and averages 6.5 points for the season. Paco Diaw, a 6-6 freshman from Dakar, Senegal, has has averaged 3.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists over Tech’s last four games.
In the frontcourt, freshman Alade Aminu, a 6-9 player with good athletic ability and shot-blocking skills, has averaged 2.8 points and 2.3 rebounds and is Tech’s only other post reserve. Tarver, who has averaged 4.3 points and 3.2 rebounds this year and started six straight games before missing the Centenary trip, will play but may not start. <
Defense Progresses Since Break
Head coach Paul Hewitt has noted steady improvement from Georgia Tech’s defense since a 12-day break following a Dec. 10 game with Tennessee State. Tech has allowed just 60.2 points on average in the last six games, including a season-low of 46 against Bethune-Cookman and 58 to No. 11 Boston College (its season low), which had averaged 80 for the season.
Over the six-game stretch, Tech has blocked an average of 4.3 shots and taken 9.8 steals per game. The Yellow Jackets have outrebounded their six foes 246-157, a per-game advantage of 14.8. The six opponents collectively have shot 39.5 percent, including 29.8 from three-point range.
Tech has slowly risen in the ACC defensive rankings, now seventh in field goal percentage defense and second in three-point percentage defense.
Offense Comes to Life
With the exception of its loss at Air Force, Georgia Tech has become more efficient offensively over its last seven games, coinciding with the emergence of freshmen D’Andre Bell and Paco Diaw as major contributors.
Aside from that Dec. 28 loss, the Yellow Jackets have averaged 78 points in the six wins during that stretch, shot 50.3 percent from the floor (39.8 percent on threes) and assisted on 111 of 171 field goals (64.9 percent).
Over that stretch, Diaw has 20 assists, second only to Zam Fredrick, and just 12 turnovers while playing nearly 15 minutes per game, Bell is averaging 6.1 points while shooting 45.7 percent in nearly 24 minutes a game.
Tech’s victory over Vanderbilt was easily the Yellow Jackets’ most complete game of the season, especially on the offensive end. Tech shot 60.9 percent from the floor, its best mark under Paul Hewitt, made 6-of-9 three-point baskets and assisted on 22 of 28 field goals.
Jackets Pounds the Boards
Georgia Tech has outrebounded 11 of 13 opponents this season, including the last eight in a row. Over that stretch, the Yellow Jackets have won the battle of the boards by an average of 13.5 per game.
That advantage has become much more pronounced during Tech’s current four-game winning streak, where the Yellow Jackets have outrebounded their foes by 16 a game. By game, Tech outrebounded Bethune Cookmam 55-35, Vanderbilt 35-18, Boston College 33-23 and Centenary 46-29.
Tech ranks fourth in the ACC overall in rebounding and third in rebound margin (plus-7.8), fourth in offensive rebounds (14.31 per game). Over the last eight games, Tech has averaged 14.9 offensive rebounds.
