Feb. 6, 2004
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech, in the midst of a five-game stretch that includes four road games, looks to snap a two-game skid Saturday when it visits Tennessee Saturday (3 p.m., ABC-TV) at the Thompson Boling Arena in Knoxville. The Yellow Jackets return home to face No. 17 North Carolina Tuesday night, then travel to Virginia (Feb. 14) and Maryland (Feb. 19).
Tech (16-5 overall, 4-4 ACC) is tied for third place in the ACC with Florida State and Wake Forest after dropping an 81-65 decision to the Seminoles in Tallahassee Tuesday night. NC State is alone in second place at 6-2 following its victory over Wake Forest Wednesday, and Duke tops the standings at 7-0.
This is Georgia Tech’s last non-conference game of the regular season. Tech went 12-1 in its pre-ACC schedule, the only loss coming at Georgia on Jan. 3. The Volunteers are 11-7 overall, 3-5 in the SEC following an 84-67 loss at LSU Wednesday night.
This is Georgia Tech’s first-ever meeting with Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena, but not its first game in the building. The Yellow Jackets defeated East Tennessee State and LSU in the Vols’ arena in the first and second rounds of the NCAA South Regional in 1990, on the way to their only Final Four appearance to date.
A win over UT will give the Yellow Jackets 17 wins for the season, matching Tech’s best total under Paul Hewitt (17-13 in 2000-01). Tech equalled last season’s win total after 19 games.
Georgia Tech is in the Top 25 for the 10th straight week, last week coming in at No. 15 in the Associated Press poll and No. 16 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. Tech debuted in the AP poll at No. 13 (No. 15 in the coaches’ poll) on Dec. 1 following their Preseason NIT wins over No. 1 Connecticut and No. 25 Texas Tech.
Tech is 3-4 in road games this season, 1-3 on the road in ACC games.
COACH HEWITT SAYS
On preparing for a non-conference game in the middle of the ACC season — “We’re playing a very good team from the SEC, a team that is having a good year. So our guys will be focused. Plus their building will probably have 20,000 people in it Saturday. So I think we’ll be ready.”
On how Tech is playing currently — “For us, taking care of the basketball is A number one right now. We have not done a good job in that area. We had 11 turnovers in the second half against Florida State, and we shot 1-for-13 from three in the second half. Primarily it was just careless ballhandling and not enough perseverance, if you will, on the offensive end to get good shots. So it comes down to us taking care of the basketball, and working the basketball to get good shots when we’re playing teams of this caliber.”
On Tech’s recent offensive rebounding problems — “We did a better job of that (giving up offensive rebounds) in the last two games, so I think we’ve got that back under control. We’ve worked on boxing out, and gotten back to doing things like we did earlier in the year. I’m more worried about our offense right now, taking good shots and having good possessions.”
On Tennessee — “They’ve a core of guys that rebound as well as anybody we’ve seen this year, Brandon Crump, Major Wingate, Jemere Hendrix. All three of those hit the glass really well. C.J. Watson is having a very good sophomore year. Similarly to our Jarrett Jack, who as a freshman last year struggled at times, but has come back and is having a fine sophomore season.”
On last year’s last-second loss to Tennessee – “We haven’t discussed that, but I’m sure it’s in the back of their minds that we let one get away last year. More importantly, though, we’re in a stretch in the month of February were we’ve got quality teams coming up, and we’ve got to build up and play well so we can finish strong.
On Tech’s position entering the final half of the conference schedule — “This is the time of year when every win is precious. This is the time of year when people are doing all the jockeying for tournament positions and gathering momentum as you go to your conference tournaments. Once you get to February, everyone is going to give you their best shot.”
On Tech’s offense – “Our offensive execution has not been good the last few ballgames. And execution can mean missing quality shots to turning the ball over. Against Florida State in the second half, we had 11 turnovers and shot 1-for-13 from three. That’s 24 times that we had the basketball, and got three points out of it. You can’t do that and win a basketball game. Especially in that stretch where they went ahead, we went 0-for-7 from three and had four turnovers. Those aren’t quality possessions.
“We had 15 turnovers among four of our perimeter players. We know we’re better than that. Let’s get back to playing like that.”
TECH SERIES VS. TENNESSEE
> Georgia Tech and Tennessee played last year for the first time since 1968, and the Volunteers came away with a 70-69 victory when Jon Higgins heaved a three-point shot from halfcourt that swished through the net at the final buzzer.
> Tennessee holds a 42-26 lead in the all-time series which began in 1921. The teams continued to play each other for five years after Tech left the Southeastern Conference following the 1963-64 season, but the series went dormant for 33 years after a Dec. 17 meeting in 1968.
> This is Tech’s first encounter with Tennessee in Knoxville since Dec. 17, 1968, a 72-59 Tech loss at Stokely Athletic Center. The Yellow Jackets are 7-25 against the Volunteers in Knoxville, a record which includes an SEC Tournament game there in 1933.
> Saturday marks the first meeting between the two teams in Thompson-Boling Arena. But the Yellow Jackets are 2-0 in the building, having defeated East Tennessee State and LSU in the first and second rounds of the NCAA South Regional in 1990 on the way to Tech’s only Final Four appearance.
> Including last season’s game at Philips Arena, Tennessee has won the last eight games in the series. Tech last defeated the Volunteers on Feb. 18, 1964, a 47-45 win at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The Yellow Jackets’ last win over Tennessee in Knoxville occurred on Feb. 19, 1963 by a score of 72-60.
> Last year’s meeting was the first encounter for each team’s head coach against the other. Tech, however, faced Buzz Peterson when he coached at Appalachian State, defeating the Mountaineers, 74-72, in overtime on Dec. 5, 1998 in Atlanta.
TOMAHAWK CHOPS — From Georgia Tech’s 81-65 loss at Florida State Tuesday:
> Tech went back to the starting lineup it used for the first 13 games of the season — Jarrett Jack, Marvin Lewis, B.J. Elder at the guards, Anthony McHenry at forward and Luke Schenscher at center.
> Isma’il Muhammad had his best offensive game in two weeks, scoring 14 points and hitting 7 of 9 shots from the floor. It was the third time he has led the Jackets in scoring off the bench this season.
> For only the 10th time under Paul Hewitt, the Jackets lost a game in which they outshot their opponent from the floor. Tech is 58-10 in such games under Hewitt.
> In all of Tech’s losses this season, the Yellow Jackets have gotten behind early and/or endured a long scoring drought. At FSU, both occurred as the Jackets fell behind 16-5 in the first five and a half minutes of the game, then went more than six minutes in the second half without a point as the Seminoles turned a 59-56 lead into a 73-56 cushion with less than four minutes left.
> FSU made 10 three-point field goals (six by Tim Pickett), and the Jackets have given up 35 in their last four games.
> It was the first time this season Tech lost a game it led at halftime.
QUICK LOOK AT TECH
Five Tech players are averaging in double figures this season, led by 6-4 junior B.J. Elder at 15.1 points a game (7th in the ACC), 6-3 sophomore Jarrett Jack (12.9 ppg, 16th in the ACC), 6-4 senior Marvin Lewis (11.2 ppg, 24th in the ACC), 6-6 junior Isma’il Muhammad (11.0 ppg) and 6-0 junior Will Bynum (10.8 ppg).
Jack, Tech’s point guard, and Luke Schenscher, Tech’s 7-1 junior center, have started every game this season.
Jack is third in the ACC in assist average (6.10 per game) and fifth in steals (2.19 per game), while shooting 47.5 percent from the floor. Schenscher averages 8.8 points and a team-high 6.1 rebounds (11th in the ACC), hits 55.7 percent of his shots and ranks sixth in the league in blocks (1.33 per game).
Elder, who scored an ACC-high 36 points against Clemson on Jan. 27, has hit 33.3 percent of his three-point attempts (12th in the ACC) but has struggled overall this season at 40.0 percent. He averages 13.9 points a game, shoots 35.9 percent from the floor and 85.7 percent from the foul line against the ACC.
Muhammad, a 6-6 defensive whiz who has started six games for Tech, would lead the ACC in field goal percentage (62.9) but falls 10 field goals short of qualifying for the rankings. He is Tech’s second-best rebounder at 5.2 per game.
Lewis, who has averaged 10.3 points in ACC games, is shooting 37.1 percent from three-point range this season (8th in the ACC) and 41.0 percent against the league (9th best).
Bynum, a 6-0 junior who has given the Jackets a big lift off the bench, broke into double figures for the season after the Wake Forest game and has improved to 10.8 points per game for the season. Even better in ACC games at 13.0 points a game, he has shot 41.9 percent from three-point range against the conference.
Clarence Moore, a 6-5 senior who missed the Clemson game with a toe injury but returned to play the last two games, averages 6.1 points and 4.8 rebounds for the season, and has hit 44.4 percent from three-point range and is second on the team with 27 steals.
Tech’s other primary players include Anthony McHenry (2.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg), a 6-7 junior playing strong forward, and Theodis Tarver, a 6-9 sophomore postman who has averaged 1.0 points and 1.9 rebounds since getting back on the court Jan. 11 after a pre-season knee injury.
ACCESS DENIED – DEFENSE STILL BEDROCK OF TECH ATTACK
Defensive pressure, both half-court and full-court, continues to be the catalyst for Tech and creates the offensive opportunities that have the Yellow Jackets averaging 79.1 points a game (third in the ACC, best in Paul Hewitt’s four years at Tech) and shooting 46.7 percent from the floor (fourth in the ACC).
> The Jackets have allowed only seven teams to shoot 40 percent this season, and have limited their opponents to 37.7 percent collectively and 28.3 percent from three-point range.
> Those figures rank first and second, respectively, in the ACC for all games, and are third and second, respectively, in the ACC for conference games only.
> Tech’s defensive efforts have, for the most part, been highly effective against the leading scorers of its opponents, and the Yellow Jackets are also vastly improved in their defense on the perimeter and against opposing three-point shooters. Only seven leading scorers among Tech’s opponents have managed to match or beat their season averages against the Jackets, and Tech has held 11 of those players to single digits.
> Only five starting backcourts have managed more assists than turnovers, and the Jackets have limited 14 starting backcourts to a combined five assists or fewer.
> Tech’s scoring yield of 64.5 points a game this season would be the sixth lowest in school history if the season ended today. Its FG percentage allowance would be the fourth lowest, and the three-point yield would be a school-record low.
#15/16 GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS (16-5, 4-4 ACC)vs. TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS(11-7, 3-5 SEC)February 7, 2004 * 3 p.m. ETThompson-Boling Arena (24,535), Knoxville, Tenn.
TV: ABC (WSB, Ch. 2 in Atlanta); Dave O’Brien, pbp; Brad Daugherty, color (televised to 24 percent of the U.S.)
Radio: Georgia Tech/ISP Network (flagship WQXI-AM 790); Wes Durham, pbp; Randy Waters, color
Series vs. Tennessee: UT leads, 42-26 In Knoxville: Tech is 7-25 At Thompson-Boling Arena: 0-0
Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt: 130-76 (.634), 7th season overall 64-49 (.571), 4th season at Tech 26-30 (.473) vs. the ACC 0-1 vs. Tennessee
Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson: 148-85 (.638), 8th season overall 43-35 (.551), 3rd season at UT 1-1 vs. Georgia Tech (1-0 with UT)
Next for Georgia Tech: Feb. 10 vs. North Carolina, 9 p.m. ET Next for Tennessee: Feb. 11 vs. Arkansas, 8 p.m. ET
