After losing to Dayton last week, and trailing North Carolina A&T by double-digits Sunday, Georgia Tech took nothing for granted Tuesday night and got a nice ego boost against Mississippi Valley State in a 76-59 romp.
The Yellow Jackets (5-1) led by as many as 35 points, held the Delta Devils without a field goal for a 12-minute stretch in the first half and outscored them 30-0 in the paint before halftime, in what amounted to a tune-up before Thanksgiving and this weekend’s trip to the Barclays Center Classic.
Robert Carter Jr. paced Tech with 13 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocks in only 21 minutes.
“We feel that we’re good enough to play with anybody in the country, and we feel like it’s time to show that,” Carter said.
Tech will go from playing Mississippi Valley State, probably best known as Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice’s alma mater, to Ole Miss on Friday in the tournament opener in Brooklyn, N.Y. They’ll go with a better feeling than the previous two games.
“Just the competitiveness on every possession was good,” Tech coach Brian Gregory said. “I think we always compete, but there are different levels of that as well. Today we were at a much better level than the last two games, except that last nine minutes of the game (Sunday). We played like that every possession for first 29 minutes today, which was good to see.”
Tech led 66-31 with 9:28 left before the Delta Devils rallied against a Tech lineup that had most of the starters on the bench. Mississippi Valley State allowed 117 points in a loss at Oklahoma State, 94 points at Mississippi State and 111 points in its last game at Ole Miss. Tech didn’t rack up that kind of offense, but it would be hard to find as dominating a defensive performance as Tech put up, especially on the interior.
Not only did nine Tech players score, but five players blocked shots. Tech imposed its defensive will — holding the Delta Devils to four field goals in the first half, all from 3-point range. The Delta Devils (1-5) took almost half of their shots in the half from behind the arc (15 of 31). It’s no wonder because Tech blocked five of the 14 shots attempted inside, including two by Carter and two by Daniel Miller.
D’Angelo Priar and Anthony McDonald made a pair of 3-pointers each to account for 12 of Mississippi Valley State’s 14 first-half points. Tech used a 27-2 run to help open a 41-14 halftime lead.
“(Dayton) beating us kind of put us back in our place a little bit,” Carter said. “I think it was a good learning experience for us that we have to come out here ready to play every day, don’t look over anybody and just play our game, like we played defense tonight.”
Solomon Poole got the most style points for a tomahawk dunk for two Tech’s 14 fast-break points to Mississippi Valley State’s zero in the first half. But Kammeon Holsey had the pass of the game, spinning in the lane and going behind his back to leave the ball for Miller, who drew a foul. Holsey showed his passing prowess again in the second half with a one-touch kick-out to Quinton Stephens on the wing for an open 3-pointer.
Stephens finished with 10 points off the bench.
Tech outrebounded the Delta Devils 49-28 and got 27 rebounds combined in 41 minutes from Miller (12) and Carter (15). Carter had 10 of Tech’s 28 defensive rebounds in the first half.
“Robert was a monster,” Gregory said. “He did an unbelievable job on the defensive glass that first half. He got almost every rebound. I told him to try to get 20 today, and he probably would have if he had played more than 21 minutes. But 15 rebounds in 21 minutes is a workman’s effort there. That’s the blue-collar type grit that we need.”
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