After one of the more thorough losses in school history, Georgia Tech forward Marcus Georges-Hunt was not ready to sulk.
“Just from my perspective, I’m not going to put my head down, no matter what,” Georges-Hunt said Thursday night, following the Yellow Jackets’ 57-28 loss to No. 2 Virginia.
In his third season, Georges-Hunt has weathered some difficult defeats, 41 altogether. In none of them did Tech shoot 24.5 percent from the field, miss all of its 3-point shots or set the ACC’s all-time record for lowest point total in a regular-season league game.
“They’re a great team,” Georges-Hunt said of the Cavaliers, “but I’m not going to dwell on it, put my head down and turn on my teammates. I’m going to have to find a way to keep pushing ’em to make sure they go harder and harder.”
Indeed, that is the next test that awaits the Jackets. After such a humbling defeat, Tech needs to rally for its Sunday game against Boston College at McCamish Pavilion (1 p.m., Fox Sports South). Tech is desperate for its first conference win after six consecutive losses. The Eagles are in a similar boat at 0-5 in league play under first-year coach Jim Christian.
The Jackets gave Wake Forest its only ACC win of the season thus far. Playing with a hangover from Virginia and granting the same favor to Boston College would be disastrous.
“We’re going to struggle to score sometimes,” guard Josh Heath said. “You’ve just got to move on.”
Boston College has a few things in its favor. It will be the more rested and prepared team, having last played Tuesday, a 69-61 loss to Syracuse. The Eagles will play with the motivation of having lost three close games to the Jackets last season, by a combined 14 points. They also still have guard Olivier Hanlan on the roster, a player who has riddled the Jackets since his freshman season. He has averaged 22.2 points and shot 62.1 percent in five games against Tech, compared with his career averages of 16.8 points and 44.5 percent.
Tech will have to steady itself after a game against Virginia in which the Cavaliers preyed on the Jackets’ weaknesses and nullified their rebounding strength. Following Thursday’s loss, coach Brian Gregory said he thought players at times played tentatively and perhaps felt pressure when taking the few open shots that the Cavaliers permitted.
There are winnable games on the schedule remaining. The combined ACC record of Tech’s final 12 regular-season opponents is 36-40, including games against the five teams other than the Jackets who have losing conference records.
Asked his response to the Virginia loss, Georges-Hunt replied, “Stay positive. Don’t get down, don’t be down, don’t put your head down. Keep working hard, and eventually things are going to break.”
About the Author
