DEL.ICIO.USNCAA Basketball
Georgia Tech beats UGA in hoops too
Just like in football, Jackets erase halftime deficit to top Dogs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
When the game got helter-skelter, Georgia Tech got comfortable and Georgia got sloppy.
The Jackets scrambled back from a 13-point second-half deficit to beat their archrivals 67-62 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday.
Pouya Dianat/pdianat@ajc.com
Georgia’s Zac Swansey battles Georgia Tech’s Alade Aminu for a loose ball.
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Tech swarmed full-court to make its surge. The Jackets (9-5) made it hard for the Bulldogs (9-6) to pass the ball inbounds.
After causing seven turnovers in the first half, Tech forced 12 in the second while allowing only six Georgia baskets. The furious pressure, and a season-high eight blocks, helped Tech overcome 5-for-26 shooting by their starting backcourt.
It was a gut-check win for the Jackets, who had lost three of four.
“That was big for a lot of reasons,” coach Paul Hewitt said. “Obviously being a rivalry game, protecting homecourt. We’ve lost some games here that are crushing in terms of how we lost them.
“We’ve got to find a way to get some of those back, and tonight maybe was the start of something.”
Zachery Peacock’s driving layup broke a 60-60 tie with 1:22 left. When Georgia’s Travis Leslie was called for traveling on his way to dunking, Lewis Clinch made a defining play.
He dove on the floor after missing a three and ripped the ball from Terrance Woodbury. Tech capitalized on Gani Lawal’s follow slam with 19 seconds to go.
“It was a 50-50 ball, and whoever goes the hardest for it gets it,” Clinch said. “We didn’t get a lot of those loose balls in Alabama and the previous games before that, but tonight collectively we did that a lot more.
“When those balls are streaking out on the floor and there’s a red and a white jersey going for the ball, the white jersey has got to win it if you want it more.”
Albert Jackson answered with a layup, and Nick Foreman made one of two free throws to make the score 65-62. Woodbury airballed a contested 3-pointer. Clinch sank two foul shots to seal it.
While Tech’s guards struggled all night, Peacock had 18 points, 13 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocks. Lawal added 15 points and 14 rebounds.
“Without a doubt, Peacock won the game,” Bulldogs coach Dennis Felton said.
Peacock played mostly power forward instead of his starting small forward spot. Hewitt indicated Peacock has found his home.
“I couldn’t ask for anything else,” said Peacock, who grabbed nine offensive rebounds. “It was a wonderful feeling out there.”
Six-foot-10 Alade Aminu and 6-9 Bassirou Dieng obstructed passing lanes, and Nick Foreman supplied his usual in-your-face defense.
The pressure enabled Tech to erase a brutal first half.
The Jackets started 4-for-20; three of those baskets were putbacks. Tech didn’t make a shot outside the lane until Foreman’s baseline jumper nearly 12 minutes in.
With three starters in early foul trouble, Hewitt juggled the lineup. Tech trailed 38-28 at the break.
“Give the kids credit — they really pulled themselves together,” Hewitt said.
The comeback victory was something Tech needed “real bad,” Peacock said.
“It was a very important game for us,” he said. “With the loss we just had at Alabama, we had to replenish ourselves.”
The Jackets begin a stretch of 15 straight ACC games Saturday at Maryland.
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