In an evenly matched struggle, Georgia Tech revealed a little bit more of itself Saturday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets had to like what they saw.
Tech overcame an eight-point halftime deficit with some of its best offensive play of the season and rigor on the backboards to take care of Vanderbilt by a 65-60 score.
“We had to get a little better defensively and a little more efficient on offense in the second half,” coach Brian Gregory said. “We got a lot of good basketball from a lot of different guys, which is what we need.”
Particularly of note Saturday was Tech’s play against the Commodores’ zone defense, which often has been the Jackets’ undoing as they’ve lacked the patience and perimeter shooting to attack zones. It stymied Tech (8-2) in the first half, when the Jackets shot 10-for-36 from the field and 2-for-12 from 3-point range. Vanderbilt (7-3) led 33-25 at halftime.
The long-range accuracy perhaps was not a surprise for a team that entered the game making 25.5 percent of its 3-point tries, ranking 337th of 345 Division I teams.
But, after halftime, the Jackets scored more in transition and in the halfcourt, finding gaps and scoring off penetration into the lane, with either the driver scoring or passing for easy lay-ins. Tech also continued to take advantage of the zone defense by hammering Vanderbilt on the offensive glass. The Jackets collected 20 offensive rebounds, tying their season high.
“As we rotate the ball on offense, (zone defenses) give us windows to (block) out and get an offensive rebound and get second-chance points for our team,” said forward Charles Mitchell, who had seven offensive rebounds Saturday and scored a game-high 19 points.
Tech scored 16 second-chance points to nine for Vanderbilt, 10 of them in the second half. Tech outscored Vanderbilt 40-27 in the second half.
“They played much more physically and much more aggressively than we did,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. “They deserved to win.”
The rebounding edge may have forced Stallings to take his team briefly out of the zone midway through the second half, which proved detrimental. The Jackets played more freely, scoring on jumpers and drives and forcing Vanderbilt back into a zone.
“We’re always surprised when a team (plays man defense against) us,” Mitchell said, “because I feel like no team can guard us man-to-man just because of how many offensive weapons we have from one through five and even coming off the bench.”
Even after Vanderbilt reverted to its zone, Tech continued to play steadily, aided by point guard Travis Jorgenson. In probably the best game of his 13-game Tech career, Jorgenson distributed the ball in the open court and ran the offense in the half court. Jorgenson is a redshirt freshman who played four games last season before tearing his ACL. He scored eight points Saturday, matching his career high and had a career-high six assists against no turnovers.
“I probably just underestimated how difficult it would be to come back and just get back in the groove after an ACL and, on top of that, I just needed to get a little experience,” Jorgenson said.
Vanderbilt was led by post men Damian Jones and Josh Henderson, both with 12 points.
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