It started off slow for the home team, but Georgia Tech found its rhythm before too much bad could happen and cruised to a comfortable 77-62 win over Southern on Monday in McCamish Pavilion.
The Yellow Jackets (2-0) overwhelmed the Jaguars (0-2) in the paint, but struggled to gain a big advantage in any other facet of the game as points in the paint and blocked shots propelled their victory.
1. Tadric Jackson provided a spark off the bench
The junior guard gave Georgia Tech a scoring punch it desperately needed in the first half, and when subbed in during the second half, he once again stablized the offense by creating his own shot at will against the Southern defenders who struggled to stay in front of him all night.
“I had to stay loose, I was holding back for a couple minutes trying to get my legs going,” said Jackson, who missed Georgia Tech’s first game with a hamstring injury. “My mentality was just attack the basket. In coach’s offense, he likes to attack, so that’s what I do. It fits me very well, cause that’s my strength.”
Jackson had 20 points on eight-of-11 shooting in just 21 minutes. His ability to drive to the lane and finish at the rim was a big reason the Yellow Jackets had a 38-26 edge in points in the paint.
2. Georgia Tech’s 19-4 run
With eight minutes and 38 seconds left in the first half, the Yellow Jackets held a one point lead. Over the remainder of the half, that advantage grew to 16 and gave Georgia Tech a cushion that it would keep for the rest of the night.
Led by Jackson and guard Josh Okogie, the Yellow Jackets created open shots for themselves and smothered Southern on the other end, turning the visitors’ offense into a turnover machine. Southern coach Roman Banks said Georgia Tech’s 1-3-1 defense caused his guards some fits, and his post players were unable to establish themselves against it to get easy buckets.
3. Ben Lammers’ presence in the post
Jackson did a lot of damage breaking down his defender and going into the heart of the defense throughout the contest, but it was center Ben Lammers who was the main reason the Yellow Jackets won the battle near the basket. The big man not only provided reliable offense on the inside as he totaled 13 points while going six-of-nine from the field, but he also hosted a personal block party on the other end of the floor.
Georgia Tech had 16 blocks in the game and Lammers had nine of those rejections. He joined Alvin Jones as the only Yellow Jackets to block at least nine shots in a game, and his game-high 15 rebounds cemented his dominant performance controlling the middle.
Lammers credited the scouting report and the coaching staff for his ability to anticipate what the opposition was going to do and allow him to stay one step ahead of the competition. Banks looked at Lammers’ toughness as a key for his monster game.
“I told the guys that he’s a guy that comes to work every day,” Banks said. “He packs his lunch, and brings his helmet. Don’t look for anything fancy from him; he just beats you up for 40 minutes.”
4. Free throws
If there was one area of the game where the Yellow Jackets had serious struggles, it was capitalizing at the foul line. They shot-17-of-31 from the charity stripe and left the door open late for the Jaguars to cut the lead to as low as seven before eventually pulling away at the end.
“Unacceptable,” coach Josh Pastner said. “We were fortunate that we had enough lead, but that can bite you in the butt. We got to be tough enough to step up there and make the free throws. … I love that we get to the line, but we got to make teams pay for that.”
Pastner did add that he was pleased his team was able to make more foul shots than the Jaguars attempted, add that connecting on more free throws than the other team attempts is one of his goals for each game this season.
5. Turnovers
It was a sloppy start for Georgia Tech as the team gave the ball away five times in the first seven minutes to fall behind 14-11. The Yellow Jackets were able to get themselves back under control after that tough opening stretch and had just three turnovers in the second half.
Southern was equally under control in the second half, but during the big run late in the first half, the Jaguars had five turnovers of their own that doomed their offensive and prevented them from getting anything going as Georgia Tech pulled away.
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