Georgia Tech’s most efficient scoring game of the season can be read as, among other things, a turn of the page or an outlier.
Either way, the Yellow Jackets had Kennesaw State’s assistance in setting highs for coach Josh Pastner’s tenure for field-goal percentage and assists in an 87-57 win over the Owls on Friday afternoon at McCamish Pavilion.
Kennesaw State granted the Jackets ample room and time to square up from the perimeter, and Tech’s movement of the ball and cutting produced a passel of open shots closer to the basket.
“We didn’t make them feel uncomfortable,” Kennesaw State coach Al Skinner said. “They got comfortable and shot the ball well. That’s the difference in the ballgame.”
It likely would not surprise most onlookers Friday to learn that Kennesaw State entered the game ranked 290th in Division I in defensive field-goal percentage (46.0 percent). The Jackets were successful on 56.5 percent of their shots Friday, well clear of their season average of 43 percent.
Tech had 29 assists on its 35 field goals, the most since the Jackets had 30 against Cornell in November 2015.
“We trust each other we’re going to keep passing to each other and keep making shots as we should,” point guard Jose Alvarado said
Tech took control of the game early, jumping to a lead of 19-3, an advantage that was never less than eight the rest of the way and reached 49-23 by halftime.
Alvarado, who went into the team’s Christmas respite with a miserable performance in a home loss to Georgia (3-for-20 from the field, 0-for-6 from 3-point range), found his stroke again, scoring on a cutter and two 3-pointers and setting up another 3-pointer from forward Khalid Moore before the game was five minutes old. On his first 3, Alvarado had plenty of time and room to square up before releasing, a luxury he likely won’t enjoy once ACC play begins Jan. 5 at home against Wake Forest.
Pastner said he and Alvarado spoke multiple times while they were on Christmas break to help him learn from the debacle against the Bulldogs. Pastner loves Alvarado’s competitiveness and hustle, but doesn’t like how it sometimes translates into him forcing shots.
“That’s just part of his maturation on that,” Pastner said. “(The Georgia game) hurt him. We talked about it. He knows, and he had some shots that should have went in and he had some shots that we should have passed up.”
Alvarado finished with 10 points, playing only 24 minutes. Forward Abdoulaye Gueye led with 16 points on 7-for-7 shooting from the field to go with a team-high eight rebounds. Both were season highs for Gueye (his scoring total matched his career high) as his role has been reduced by the emergence of forward James Banks. Five players scored in double figures as coach Josh Pastner played all 12 scholarship players. The 87 points were one shy of Tech’s season high, set against Lamar.
“I thought ‘A.D.’ (Gueye) gave us good minutes around the hoop, and we need him to be effective or us when he’s backing James up and he goes in,” Pastner said. “Unfortunately for, A.D.’s been in a little bit of a slump. Hopefully this game can kind of trigger his mojo back to get him going.”
Kennesaw State (3-11) was led by guard Tyler Hooker’s 17 points.
For Tech, which improved to 7-5, the question is how much the offensive efficiency that won the day Friday can be carried forward. Through 12 games, the Jackets have largely defended well, but have had difficulty scoring, particularly from beyond the arc, which had been a priority for Pastner going into the season.
Tech has shot below 30 percent from 3-point range in seven out of 12 games as Pastner has contended his belief in his team’s shooting ability. For the Jackets to surpass expectations in ACC play – they were picked to finish 13th in the conference in a preseason media poll – their ability to score will have to be closer to what they demonstrated against Kennesaw State than in other games.
In the 70-59 loss to Georgia, for instance, Tech was 3-for-16 from 3-point range (18.8 percent). Even in its upset win on the road against Arkansas that preceded the UGA loss, the Jackets were 5-for-17 (29.4 percent).
Even Friday, Tech wasn’t exactly pouring it in. The Jackets made four of their first five tries from 3-point range, and then were 4-for-17 the rest of the way, 8-for-22 in all.
Pastner said that he and his staff want to stress finding open 3-pointers in transition more frequently before defenses get set.
“Sometimes the best way to score is in those first 10 to 12 seconds (off a possession) off a miss because it’s sort of a scramble (defensively) and you can kind of move the ball and your feet are set and you’re able to shoot open 3’s,” he said. “That’s kind of what happened (Friday).”
The Owls are now 1-2 this season against in-state competition. They defeated Oglethorpe 68-57 in the season opener Nov. 7 at home and lost to Georgia 84-51 on Nov. 27 in Athens.
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