Virginia at Georgia Tech, 3 p.m. Sunday ESPNU
The Cavaliers travel to take on the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta on Sunday a few hours before the Super Bowl kicks off.
When you're trying to find out stuff about this year's Georgia Tech squad, you hear things like, "They are better than their record," which is 11-8 and 1-6 in the ACC. The Jackets actually had a very good out-of-conference record of 10-2, with losses to Cal and Illinois, a team then ranked in the top 25. Tech gave Saint Mary's a loss, a team that has just four losses on the year and competes with Gonzaga and BYU in the West Coast Conference. Most of Tech's other wins, though, were over bad teams. Once ACC play hit, the Jackets have struggled, with just one win, a dominating performance at home 82-62 over Wake Forest. Their ACC schedule so far has been very tough. Besides the Wake game at home, the Jackets have played Miami at home, at N.C. State, home against Virginia Tech (a five-point loss in OT), at Duke (very competitive first half), at North Carolina, and at Clemson (three-point loss). The Wake win and close loss at Clemson are the Jackets' most recent outings, so they are definitely making improvements.
Last year, Georgia Tech finished 11-20 and 4-12 in the conference in new coach Brian Gregory's first year. Virginia played Georgia Tech once, in Atlanta, and it was maybe the most dominating performance by the Wahoos all year, a 70-38 victory.
Georgia Tech is a good rebounding team (42nd in the country) and also plays tough defense (59.7 points per game, fourth in the ACC). However, the Jackets don't shoot well from the field (42.2 percent, worst in the ACC, although Wake is just above them and beat UVa) or at the free throw line (63.9, also last in the conference) or the 3-point line (30.7 percent, yep, last). I would expect that Virginia's streak of holding all seven of its conference opponents under 60 points will continue. I think Virginia wins unless it has an off shooting night and the Cavs lose a contest that ends in the lower 50s for both teams.
Georgia Tech has zero players averaging more than 11 points per game but does have five players averaging at least eight points per game. Two freshmen lead the way, Marcus Georges-Hunt (10.5) and Robert Carter (10.1 ppg, 6.7 rebounds per game). Junior Kammeon Holsey is next at 9.4 ppg and 4.9 rpg. Senior Mfon Udofia scores 9.4 ppg and dishes out 2.9 assists per game. He shoots 34.3 percent from 3. Big man Daniel Miller is a junior and could be a force inside. He is getting 7.9 ppg and pulling down 6.4 rpg and also blocking 2.2 shots per game. Chris Bolden is another freshman contributing for the team at 6.4 ppg. Jason Morris, a junior, is the team's best 3-point shooter but he re-aggravated his plantar fasciitis injury against Miami on Jan. 5, and has had even more trouble with it since then, so I think he is out for this one.
Though their ACC record does not show it, this Georgia Tech team is improved over last year. It had seven losses out-of-conference in the 2011-12 season, but only the pair this year, and I'd say the strength of the schedules are pretty similar. Tech lost to some bad teams last year. The Jackets aren't good in many things, but they are good at rebounding, similar to Old Dominion, and we know how that turned out for the 'Hoos. The Jackets struggled in that aspect last year and the Cavs took advantage, beating them on the boards by a ratio of almost 2-1. I don't see that disparity happening this time. The team is going to have to come out focused and ready. Georgia Tech is young and hungry for more victories. A home game against a beatable Virginia team will wet its appetite. Hopefully the 'Hoos don't have too many Super Bowl Sunday snacks beforehand because coming out sluggish in this one would be a mistake. The players say the right things after wins now -- that every game is big and their focus is solely on the next one. It was tough to see that for awhile with questionable loss after questionable loss but hopefully they have turned a corner and this game ends up looking like the 'Hoos' visit to Cassell Coliseum when they defeated the Hokies by double digits. If another headscratcher ensues, it's back to the drawing board.
There is no reason the team should come out looking anything but fresh. After playing three games in six days -- and winning them all -- the guys got a much-needed three full days off from games.
Virginia freshman Evan Nolte is from the Atlanta area. He hasn't seen the floor much lately, getting into foul trouble. Hopefully he will have a big game in what should be a homecoming for him.
The Cavaliers travel to take on the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta on Sunday a few hours before the Super Bowl kicks off.
When you're trying to find out stuff about this year's Georgia Tech squad, you hear things like, "They are better than their record," which is 11-8 and 1-6 in the ACC. The Jackets actually had a very good out-of-conference record of 10-2, with losses to Cal and Illinois, a team then ranked in the top 25. Tech gave Saint Mary's a loss, a team that has just four losses on the year and competes with Gonzaga and BYU in the West Coast Conference. Most of Tech's other wins, though, were over bad teams. Once ACC play hit, the Jackets have struggled, with just one win, a dominating performance at home 82-62 over Wake Forest. Their ACC schedule so far has been very tough. Besides the Wake game at home, the Jackets have played Miami at home, at N.C. State, home against Virginia Tech (a five-point loss in OT), at Duke (very competitive first half), at North Carolina, and at Clemson (three-point loss). The Wake win and close loss at Clemson are the Jackets' most recent outings, so they are definitely making improvements.
Last year, Georgia Tech finished 11-20 and 4-12 in the conference in new coach Brian Gregory's first year. Virginia played Georgia Tech once, in Atlanta, and it was maybe the most dominating performance by the Wahoos all year, a 70-38 victory.
Georgia Tech is a good rebounding team (42nd in the country) and also plays tough defense (59.7 points per game, fourth in the ACC). However, the Jackets don't shoot well from the field (42.2 percent, worst in the ACC, although Wake is just above them and beat UVa) or at the free throw line (63.9, also last in the conference) or the 3-point line (30.7 percent, yep, last). I would expect that Virginia's streak of holding all seven of its conference opponents under 60 points will continue. I think Virginia wins unless it has an off shooting night and the Cavs lose a contest that ends in the lower 50s for both teams.
Georgia Tech has zero players averaging more than 11 points per game but does have five players averaging at least eight points per game. Two freshmen lead the way, Marcus Georges-Hunt (10.5) and Robert Carter (10.1 ppg, 6.7 rebounds per game). Junior Kammeon Holsey is next at 9.4 ppg and 4.9 rpg. Senior Mfon Udofia scores 9.4 ppg and dishes out 2.9 assists per game. He shoots 34.3 percent from 3. Big man Daniel Miller is a junior and could be a force inside. He is getting 7.9 ppg and pulling down 6.4 rpg and also blocking 2.2 shots per game. Chris Bolden is another freshman contributing for the team at 6.4 ppg. Jason Morris, a junior, is the team's best 3-point shooter but he re-aggravated his plantar fasciitis injury against Miami on Jan. 5, and has had even more trouble with it since then, so I think he is out for this one.
Though their ACC record does not show it, this Georgia Tech team is improved over last year. It had seven losses out-of-conference in the 2011-12 season, but only the pair this year, and I'd say the strength of the schedules are pretty similar. Tech lost to some bad teams last year. The Jackets aren't good in many things, but they are good at rebounding, similar to Old Dominion, and we know how that turned out for the 'Hoos. The Jackets struggled in that aspect last year and the Cavs took advantage, beating them on the boards by a ratio of almost 2-1. I don't see that disparity happening this time. The team is going to have to come out focused and ready. Georgia Tech is young and hungry for more victories. A home game against a beatable Virginia team will wet its appetite. Hopefully the 'Hoos don't have too many Super Bowl Sunday snacks beforehand because coming out sluggish in this one would be a mistake. The players say the right things after wins now -- that every game is big and their focus is solely on the next one. It was tough to see that for awhile with questionable loss after questionable loss but hopefully they have turned a corner and this game ends up looking like the 'Hoos' visit to Cassell Coliseum when they defeated the Hokies by double digits. If another headscratcher ensues, it's back to the drawing board.
There is no reason the team should come out looking anything but fresh. After playing three games in six days -- and winning them all -- the guys got a much-needed three full days off from games.
Virginia freshman Evan Nolte is from the Atlanta area. He hasn't seen the floor much lately, getting into foul trouble. Hopefully he will have a big game in what should be a homecoming for him.
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