Feb. 14, 2012
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech faces a pair of big Atlantic Coast Conference road games this week, beginning with a visit to Wake Forest at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Complete game notes | Regional cable outlets carrying Tech vs. Wake Forest
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The first of two meetings between the two schools this season will be televised on the ACC’s Regional Sports network, which includes Fox Sports South in Georgia. The game also can be heard in Atlanta on flagship station 790 the Zone (790 AM) and True Oldies 106.7 FM, as well as across the country on satellite radio (Sirius Ch. 136).
In its first year under head coach Brian Gregory, Tech (9-15, 2-8 ACC) hopes to capture its second road win in the ACC this season and fourth overall. Tech has lost seven of its last eight games and 11 of its last 13, having beaten NC State on the road and Boston College at home in conference action this season. The Jackets had last weekend off following a 61-52 homecourt loss to NC State Thursday.
Tech is 3-6 on opponents’ home courts this season, including an 82-71 win at NC State on Jan. 11. The Yellow Jackets are 6-16 all-time in the Joel Coliseum, winning twice in their last four visits, including an 80-54 victory there last season.
Wake Forest (11-14, 2-9) occupies last place in the ACC standings, having lost its last six games in a row and eight of its last nine. The Demon Deacons lost 78-58 at home to Clemson Saturday.
The Jackets follow Wednesday’s game with a visit to Blacksburg Saturday to face Virginia Tech (3 p.m.) at Cassell Coliseum.
Tech/Wake Forest Update
• Georgia Tech’s primary goals this season have been to play solid team defense, win the rebounding battle, and be efficient on offense. The Yellow Jackets have allowed only seven teams to score as many as 70 points and three to shoot 50 percent from the floor. Tech has a +4.2 edge in rebounding for the season and has won that battle in 14 of 24 games.
• The Yellow Jackets rank No. 5 in the ACC (62nd nationally) in field goal percentage defense (40.5 pct.) and in scoring defense (84th nationally, 63.2 ppg). Tech has held 12 opponents under 40 percent from the field, and have held nine teams under 60 points.
• The Yellow Jackets have had difficulty scoring of late, averaging 54.6 points a game during the last eight games (including an 81-point effort at North Carolina). Tech has shot 38 percent from the floor over that stretch, failing to reach 40 percent four times.
• Tech’s offensive troubles have manifested themselves mostly in the first half of those games. The Jackets have shot 44.5 percent, averaged 32.4 points per game and committed 6.5 turnovers per game after intermission in the last eight games. Compare that to 31.6 percent, 22.3 points per game and 7.9 turnovers per game in the first half.
• Despite its 3-6 road record, Tech has been outscored collectively by less than 1 point on the road, and has outshot its opponents 44.0-39.7 percent from the floor.
• Wake Forest ranks eighth in the ACC in scoring average (65.4 ppg) and 11th in field goal percentage. It averages just 59 points in ACC games. The Demon Deacons allow 70.9 points per game (12th) and 43.3 percent shooting from the floor (11th).
Whom to Watch for Tech
• Two Yellow Jackets are averaging double figures in scoring, led by 6-5 junior Glen Rice, Jr., of Marietta, Ga., who is scoring 13.1 points (13th in the ACC) and grabbing 6.6 rebounds per game (11th). Mfon Udofia, a 6-2 junior from Stone Mountain, Ga., averages 10.0 points per game.
• 6-11 sophomore center Daniel Miller has scored 10 points in each of Tech’s last three games, and averaged 8.3 rebounds. Miller has hit 13-of-20 shots from the floor, 4-for-4 from the foul line. He has 7 blocked shots, 4 assists and 4 steals.
• Miller ranks 12th in the ACC in rebounding and 2nd in blocked shots (2.4 per game).
• Daniel Miller and Kammeon Holsey both scored in double figures Saturday for the first time since D7 at Georgia, a game Tech won by 12 points. It also happened against VCU on N18, a game Tech won by 13,
• 6-8 sophomore forward Kammeon Holsey has scored in double digits in each of Tech’s last two games, including 17 points with 8 rebounds against NC State. He is 10-for-18 from the floor in those two games and has shot 60.7 percent from the floor this season.
• Udofia has gone 0-for-16 from the floor in his last two games, but has 11 assists and just two turnovers in 67 minutes.
• Point guards Udofia and Pierre Jordan have just three turnovers between them in the last two games (92 minutes).
• After missing the FSU game with a sprained right toe, Rice has 11 pts/8 reb vs. Boston College and 15 pts/7 reb vs. NC State.
• 6-3 sophomore Brandon Reed has made his last 16 free throw attempts dating back to Jan. 11 at NC State. He is 13-for-13 in Tech’s last four games.
• 6-10 sophomore center Nate Hicks has been sidelined with mononucleosis since last Wednesday (missed practice and the NC State game). He is not expected to play in either game this week.
Tech-Wake Forest History
• The Yellow Jackets have won six of the last eight meetings, including a sweep of the season series in 2010-11. Tech set school records in each game for margin of victory in an ACC game (74-39 at home on Jan, 19) and for margin of victory in an ACC road game (80-54 on Mar. 3).
• Tech was 23-9 in games played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, winning each of the last seven meetings in the building.
• The home team has won 28 of the last 37 regular-season games in the series, with Wake Forest winning four times in Atlanta during that span, and Tech winning five times in Winston-Salem.
• Tech has lost 10 of the last 13 meetings at the Joel Coliseum, and is just 6-16 in the building. Tech is 10-23 against Wake Forest on the road, including a 2-3 mark in regular-season games played in Greensboro and a 2-4 mark in games played in Winston-Salem prior to the opening of Joel Coliseum.
• Tech is 32-25 against Wake Forest since 1985, including 12 straight victories from 1985-91.
• Tech was 12-12 against Wake Forest under Paul Hewitt, and 12 of the 24 meetings were decided by fewer than 10 points (four in overtime). Brian Gregory has never faced Wake Forest as a head coach.
• Tech is 10-16 against Wake Forest when the Demon Deacons are ranked in the top 25, 12-9 when the Yellow Jackets are in the Top 25, and 3-5 when both teams are ranked.
• Wake Forest has won all four of its meetings with Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament, including a 75-74 triumph in the 1996 championship game in Greensboro. Wake Forest took the 2007 first round meeting, winning 114-112 in double-overtime, the highest-scoring game in ACC Tournament history and the highest-scoring game for Tech involving and ACC opponent in its history.
