Georgia Tech didn’t need an ACC/Big Ten matchup to find a challenge, just another day in the maiden season of Coach Brian Gregory. But the Yellow Jackets managed to make a show of it for a half against Northwestern in their first “home” game at Philips Arena.
They hung around Tuesday night before Northwestern started running its Princeton offense to perfection, mixing in 3-pointers with a host of backdoor cuts, to handle Tech 76-60.
The Wildcats (6-0), who led tipoff to final buzzer, beat Georgia Tech (4-3) for the second straight year in the ACC/Big Ten challenge.
“Give Northwestern credit,” Gregory said. “They came out and hit us pretty good. I thought our guys responded pretty well in the last 12 minutes of that first half, played good basketball and defended pretty well. In the second half, they started off with a couple quick threes and a couple missed coverages; but give them credit, if you make mistakes they make you pay.”
An announced crowd of 5,619 showed up at Philips, where the upper deck was cordoned off to make it cozier for its new tenants. This was the largest crowd of the season for the Jackets, who averaged 2,239 in their first three games at the Gwinnett Arena, as they await the renovation of Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
Sophomore Jason Morris sparked the Jackets with 16 points in the first half -- his career high for a game -- and 21 points in all. He also drew the toughest defensive assignment in the Wildcats’ 6-foot-9 inside-out threat, forward John Shurna. Morris went a little quiet in the second half, not taking his first shot until just under eight minutes remained in the game.
Shurna, meanwhile, made 3-pointers in each of Northwestern’s first two possessions of the second half to open the lead to 50-41 and open things up under the basket. Shurna finished with 25 points on 10-for-18 shooting and eight rebounds. Northwestern finished only 5-for-14 from 3-point range, but his two to start the second were big.
“If you make [those] shots it drags men out, and some things open up,” said Northwestern coach Bill Carmody, protege of former Princeton coach Pete Carill.
Things got tougher for the Jackets on offense just as Northwestern found its rhythm. The Wildcats stretched the floor, which left Tech vulnerable in one-on-one defense.
“The one thing that was a constant during the entire game was our inability in a one-on-one situation just to defend the basketball,” Gregory said. “We’ve got to take a greater pride in being able to defend the dribble.”
Offensively for Tech, Morris played the role of Glen Rice Jr. -- coming off the bench to gift the Yellow Jackets a lift.
Morris scored 16 points in 15 minutes in the first half, including 11 during Tech’s 13-6 run to cut Northwestern’s lead to 36-33 with 4:11 left in the first half.
He showed how complete his game can be in that three-minute stretch, hitting a 3-pointer, diving for a loose ball and drawing a foul, making both free throws, and using a shot fake to create space on the wing before driving to the basket for a lay-up.
Morris was 6-for-11 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from 3-point range, and 7-for-7 from the free throw line. This was after he combined to go 4-for-23 in his previous four games. Morris said the improvement came from spending extra time in the gym.
“One of the things Coach said earlier in the year is he’ll never tell us not to shoot a shot but he said the guards aren’t doing the things you’re supposed to to deserve to take those shots,” Morris said.
Rice scored in double figures for the fourth straight game while coming off the bench. He hobbled off favoring his right leg with 13:34 left in the second half but returned to the court less than a minute later. He finished with 10 points.
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