Khadrice Rollins
krollins@ajc.com
Georgia Tech’s good fortunes from Sanford Stadium carried their way into McCamish Pavilion Saturday night as the Yellow Jackets picked up a 82-68 win over Tulane.
It was an ugly contest between Tech (4-1) and the Green Wave of Tulane (1-5), but when the refs stopped blowing their whistles and the clock hit zero, the Jackets walked away with their desired result. These are the key observations from the contest.
Josh Okogie’s second half surge
The Jackets’ guard was solid in the first 20 minutes of action, scoring 10 points on five-of-nine shooting, but after halftime is when he really went off. Okogie set a Tech record for most points in a game by a freshman with 38, thanks to a 28-point second half. Coach Josh Pastner pointed to Okogie’s effort on defense as a big reason as he was able to get going. Okogie said his final bucket before the break boosted his spirit, allowing him to take over in the second period.
“The last play heading into the half kind of helped me,” Okogie said. “That one extra pass by (forward Quinton Stephens), I was able to execute the play coach drew up, and I feel like that gave me confidence going into the second half.”
Free throw shooting
The Jackets were nine-of-21 on free throws to start the game. As they clung to a five-point advantage late in the game, it all switched and they connected on their final 13 foul shots to finish the night shooting 22-of-34 from the line.
Okogie was a big difference-maker from the charity stripe going 13-of-18 as he alone attempted and made more than Tulane (12-of-17).
“We’ve got to step up and make our free throws,” Pastner said. “Now, we made them when they counted late in the second half, but early on we just left so many points on the board. We want to play in attack mode and we’re playing that way and the way we are cutting and we’re getting to the free throw line, we’ve got to put the ball in the basket.”
Tech’s stifling defense
Whether it was center Ben Lammers presence in the middle or the quick hands of the guards on the perimeter, the Jackets were able to get quality contributions across the board on the defensive end to keep the Green Wave at bay when it mattered most.
“Our guards did not have a good feel for the clock,” Tulane coach Mike Dunleavy Sr. said. “To start that second half, I thought some of our shot selection was bad. We were just totally off kilter there, knowing what the situation was and getting the job done.”
Tech held the opposition to 41.4 percent shooting on a night that was highlighted by countless possessions that went late into the shot clock and ended with Tulane either rushing a shot, or turning it over.
“A lot of it was just our communication,” Stephens said. “We were talking a lot and our crowd helped out a couple times too, just counting down the wrong numbers (as the shot clock expired).”
Jackets controlled the paint
Lammers and Stephens nearly matched Tulane on the boards by themselves and their combined presence in the middle provided a security blanket for Tech all night. Between attacking the glass, going after 50-50 balls and chipping in 33 points combined, the two gave the Jackets an edge on the inside that helped them pull away late.
Tech had a 38-24 advantage in points in the paint, scored seven more second chance points and outrebounded Tulane by 13 on a night both players posted double-doubles.
“If I’m not hitting somebody and getting the rebound, (Lammers) is hitting somebody and getting the rebound,” Stephens said. “Sometimes we fight over the rebounds.”
