Two days after falling to Georgia in perhaps its poorest game of the season, Georgia Tech took care of Southeastern Louisiana 75-62 Monday night at McCamish Pavilion.
It was hardly an unexpected result; the Lions (2-10) entered the game ranked No. 337 in RPI and had yet to beat a Division I opponent. Perhaps most importantly for Tech (8-3), the Yellow Jackets won, suffered no injuries and regained the up-tempo pace it lost against the Bulldogs. Coach Brian Gregory liked much of what he saw, including the 43-29 rebounding advantage, but not the inconsistent intensity and concentration.
“We’ve got to tighten it up,” Gregory said. “You can’t play in stretches with who we’re going to play against.”
Here are five observations about the Jackets from the game:
Tweaked lineup
Forward James White made his first start of the season. The graduate transfer from Arkansas-Little Rock and Jonesboro was in the starting lineup in place of Nick Jacobs. White responded with six points and nine rebounds in the first half alone. Jacobs came in midway through the half.
White had been particularly strong on the glass in the past two games, collecting a combined 16 rebounds in 31 minutes of play.
Coming on
With 12 points and a season-high 13 rebounds in a season-high 22 minutes, White may be playing his way into a larger role as the non-conference portion of the schedule concludes. Teammates acknowledge him to be the most athletic player on the roster, but his adaptation to the Tech style was slowed as he couldn’t join the team until after he graduated from Arkansas-Little Rock over the summer. That meant he missed summer workouts and the team’s August trip to the Bahamas for three exhibition games.
White demonstrated again a knack for making hidden plays as well as his considerable athletic ability. At the 6:25 mark in the first half, White kept a possession alive by tipping a missed shot to forward Quinton Stephens. Stephens missed a jumper that White reached back to corral and then dunked in one violent motion.
“James, obviously, has been a great addition for us, and he played extremely well for us tonight,” Gregory said.
Slow start
Against an inferior team, Tech led by one point midway through the first half and didn’t clear a 10-point lead for good until 2:30 remained in the first half. The Jackets shot 38.2 percent for the half and turned the ball over five times in 34 possessions. Two days after seeming a step slow all afternoon in a loss to Georgia, it was not exactly a crisp bounce-back performance.
Stuck on the 3
Early on, the Jackets went heavy on the 3-pointer against Southeastern Louisiana’s 2-3 zone defense. In the first half, Tech settled for long-range shots rather than trying to disrupt the defense by attacking creases. Tech took exactly half of its 34 field-goal attempts from 3-point range, shooting 6 of 17. Going into the game, 29 percent of the Jackets’ field-goal attempts had been from beyond the arc.
Second-half takeover
The game took the anticipated form in the second half, as the Jackets made their first six shots of the half and eventually extended the lead to as many as 24 points. Forward Charles Mitchell, whose nine-game double-double streak came to an end against the Bulldogs with a four-rebound, zero-point game, forced the action with 14 points (all in the second half) and 15 rebounds. In the final 20 minutes, the Jackets hammered the boards and moved the ball more assertively and effectively with eight assists against three turnovers and 50 percent shooting.
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