Georgia has changed coaches but the Bulldogs didn’t give up their mastery of Georgia Tech. Making shots against the Yellow Jackets’ challenging zone defense and benefiting from Tech’s poorly functioning offense, Georgia claimed its fourth consecutive win over Tech, a 70-59 decision at McCamish Pavilion Saturday afternoon.
UGA coach Tom Crean claimed his first win in the series following three consecutive victories by predecessor Mark Fox. Georgia’s four-game winning streak is the Bulldogs’ longest in the series since they won seven in a row 1980-84.
“We’re excited about the win,” Crean said. “We know we beat a good team.”
Georgia (7-4) seized control early, taking leads of 12-5 and then 25-9. Early on, the Bulldogs weren’t scoring with great efficiency – their first 12 points required 14 possessions – but with the way that the Jackets were operating, it wasn’t necessary. In its first 13 times with the ball, Tech (6-5) was 1-for-11 from the floor, had turned the ball over three times and Georgia forward E’Torrion Wilridge had blocked the shots of three different Tech players.
Tech’s offensive output improved over the course of the game, but not enough to alter the outcome. The Jackets shot 32.3 percent from the field (21-for-65) and 18.8 percent from 3-point range (3-for-16). Georgia blocked 10 Tech shots, which was a season high for both sides.
It demonstrated perhaps questionable shot selection and Tech’s struggles to create shots as it continues to feel the loss of Josh Okogie, the playmaking guard who left for the NBA after last season.
A team that Pastner was counting on to shoot well from 3-point range – he said at season’s start that the Jackets would live and die by the shot – saw its season 3-point percentage dip to 29.8 percent for the season.
“When you’re struggling to score, every layup that you miss or you miss an open 3, it just kind of mounts pressure, because we don’t really have that one guy that can break you down to go get you a bucket when you need one,” Pastner said. “I’ve said it from the beginning – I really believe in our team’s shooting ability, even though we haven’t shot the ball well this year to this point. I don’t believe I miscalculated it, but maybe I did.”
Guard Jose Alvarado, coming off a 20-point game in the team's upset win at Arkansas on Wednesday, had a particularly challenging afternoon. Trying to carry the banner, he was 3-for-20 from the field and 0-for-6 from 3-point range and finished with 11 points. In a tweet following the game, Alvarado lamented that "in a big game I play the worst game of my life" before resolving to not give up.
“I probably should have pulled him out and rested him a little bit and let him calm down and let him get a little bit organized on that,” Pastner said.
Saturday’s win was the most significant of the season for Georgia, whose other six wins thus far were over mid-major schools. The Bulldogs showed an ability to move the ball into and behind Tech’s zone defense to create scoring opportunities.
“It wasn’t easy for us to make that pass (from the wing to the corner), so getting it through the middle, getting it reversed and then getting in behind the defense is what the game was giving us,” Crean said.
Georgia shot 45.5 percent from the field, which was the second-highest rate achieved against this season against the Jackets.
The Bulldogs reached 70 points by spreading the shots. No player took more than 10 shots and four players – forwards Nicolas Claxton and Rayshaun Hammonds and guards Teshaun Hightower and Tyree Crump – all scored in double digits.
Claxton scored two of the biggest baskets of the game. Tech scored the first seven points of the second half to cut the lead to 29-26. On the next possession, Claxton took a swing pass from Hammonds and bottomed out a long 3-pointer for a 32-26 advantage.
With the Bulldogs ahead 40-36 on a Georgia possession midway through the second half, the ball went out of bounds after Alvarado stole it in the lane but lost it and then two Tech players couldn’t secure it. Then the Jackets didn’t block out on a missed reverse by Jordan Harris, resulting in a held ball with UGA retaining possession. Finally, with the shot clock running down, Wilridge missed a 3-pointer – a third opportunity for a defensive stop in the same possession.
But no one blocked out Claxton, who rushed the basket from the opposite wing for an easy tip-in and a 42-36 lead with 11:02 to play.
“Whenever they hit us in the mouth, we hit them back even harder,” Claxton said.
The win was significant for Georgia’s five seniors who have been with the team for the entirety of their college careers – Mike Edwards, William Jackson, Derek Ogbeide, Connor O’Neill and Wilridge. According to the school, there had been only four players in school history who went through their four years at Georgia without losing to Tech prior to Saturday. Now the number is nine. (It bears mention that, through the 1980-81 season, Tech and Georgia normally played twice a year, where now the game is played once a season.)
“I think that’s pretty amazing,” Crean said.
About the Author
