By Andy Demetra | Voice of the Yellow Jackets
Short of bodies, Georgia Tech wasn’t short of fight Tuesday, though fatigue and foul trouble ultimately undid them in a 76-61 loss to Oklahoma in the SEC/ACC Challenge.
Losses never sit well with a team, but they can still have a galvanizing effect. Go on the road, down two starters, against a No. 21-ranked opponent, with your leading scorer mired in foul trouble, and still lead for the entire first half? And have the margin within two possessions in the final five minutes?
Georgia Tech (4-4, 0-0 ACC) didn’t get the result it wanted, but that type of fight can embolden a team more than it can deflate them. Damon Stoudamire said as much afterwards. The Yellow Jackets will now look for that spirit to propel them into their ACC opener against – lo and behold – another ranked team on the road in No. 20 North Carolina (4-4, 0-0 ACC).
Enjoy the top notes, quotes and anecdotes from my chart before Tech dives into conference play against the team they beat in a court-storming comeback last year (2 p.m. ET, Georgia Tech Sports Network):
Lance Terry’s (0) poster dunk was part of a 14-point effort at Oklahoma. (photo by Chad Hamilton)
Lance Terry’s postgame radio interview included a bit of foreshadowing.
Asked about his near-poster dunk of a Central Arkansas defender – Terry’s slam rattled off the rim, though he did draw a foul – the senior smiled and said, “I’ll keep trying. I’ll get one of them one day.”
He needed all of one game to make good on that prophesy.
Terry’s dunk on Oklahoma’s 6-11 Luke Northweather was the offensive play of the game (and arguably the season for Tech), an elevating, eviscerating piece of midair savagery by the Yellow Jackets’ leading scorer.
His greater contribution on Saturday, though, may come from outside the arc. It’s worth remembering: two years ago, Terry shot 42% percent from three-point range in ACC play.
North Carolina’s 4-4 record is deceiving – three of the Tar Heels’ losses have come against top 10 opponents – but head coach Hubert Davis has lamented his team’s defensive communication of late. The Tar Heels favor playing drop coverage on pick-and-rolls, and they’re not particularly aggressive agitating for turnovers (their TO% ranks 310th in the nation, roughly on par with Georgia Tech).
The Jackets will need to be sharp making pocket passes and playing out of that action, something they did well in their win last year. Can they also finish stronger around the rim? The Tar Heels have already allowed 50 paint points in two games this year; they had only allowed two such games in the previous two years combined.
When someone gets named ACC Player of the Year, it often draws a sigh of relief from the rest of the league. Surely that player, having won such a prestigious award, won’t stick around for another year, will he?
For the first time since 2009, someone did – and Tech will face him on Saturday.
After leading the ACC in scoring last season (21.2 ppg), North Carolina’s R.J. Davis opted in to his COVID year for one last go-around in Chapel Hill. The 6-0 guard remains a savvy, three-level shot maker who plays with balance and finesse in the half-court. He also has a history of uber-efficient games against the Yellow Jackets:
R.J. Davis – Last 4 games vs. Georgia Tech
- PPG: 23.5
- RPG: 6.2
- APG: 4.5
- FG%: 59%
- 3PT%: 54%
That included a game-high 28 points against Tech last year, though Davis missed a driving layup on the Tar Heels’ final possession. He once again leads UNC in scoring, though his shooting numbers (35.3% FG/24.2% 3pt.) have been curiously flat to begin the year.
After laboring through 1-of-11 three-point shooting against Alabama, North Carolina will likely try to get Davis going early. Can Tech play well in gaps, stay connected in its ball screen defense, and not allow Davis to get rhythm shots in the half-court? He’s not the only creator in the backcourt – point guard Elliot Cadeau (12.8 ppg) plays with burst around ball screens, while guard Seth Trimble (15.6 ppg) is a physical, right-handed driver. All of North Carolina’s guards like to split screens and attack.
Duncan Powell (31) mitigated Tech’s foul trouble at Oklahoma by posting his first double-double as a Yellow Jacket. (photo by Chad Hamilton)
He may have “DALLAS” and “TEXAS” tattooed on his forearms, but Duncan Powell didn’t move there until he was three. The forward was actually born in Conover, N.C., outside Hickory. He still has plenty of relatives on his Dad’s side there, and Duncan told me he visits North Carolina every summer.
With Baye Ndongo and Doryan Onwuchekwa saddled by foul trouble in Norman, the redshirt junior muscled his way to his first double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. North Carolina isn’t the dominating, glass-eating team of years past – the Tar Heels rank 221st in the nation in rebounding margin after finishing 15th last year – but Powell will need to fend off a pair of rugged offensive rebounders in Notre Dame transfer Ven-Allen Lubin and former Yellow Jacket Ty Claude.
Georgia Tech has allowed 35.1% field goal shooting in its last three games. Their ability to limit transition, avoid live ball turnovers, and deny the Tar Heels offensive rebounds (and the kickout threes that follow) will be key. Can Tech also limit the free throw disparity that sunk them at Oklahoma? North Carolina ranks eighth in the country in made free throws per game (20.0).
Davis broke a Smith Center record last year by scoring 42 points in a win over Miami. Among the other milestones he reached in that game:
- He became the first UNC player to score 40+ points at the Smith Center since Tyler Hansbrough did it in 2006 against Georgia Tech.
- He scored the most points by a UNC player since Shammond Williams had 42 in 1998 against… Georgia Tech.
- He became the first UNC player to outscore the rest of his team since Michael Jordan did it in 1983 against… Georgia Tech.
He may be a handful against Tech. But at least he gave the Yellow Jackets a reprieve in the record books.
Now that we’re prepared, we hope you are as well. Join us for pregame coverage starting at 1:30 p.m. ET on the Georgia Tech Sports Network. Away we go in the ACC. See you in Chapel Hill.
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Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is in its second year under head coach Damon Stoudamire. 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 X (@GTMBB) and Instagram. For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com. Tickets for men’s basketball can be reserved here.
