Kentucky basketball: Five things to know about Georgia Tech
Five things to know about Georgia Tech, Kentucky basketball’s visiting opponent on Saturday;
1. The Yellow Jackets were routed last time out
Syracuse smashed Georgia Tech 97-63 last Saturday in Atlanta. It was the Orange’s largest margin of victory since Syracuse joined the ACC in 2013-14. Georgia Tech trailed 48-28 at the half. That margin only expanded in the second half. It ended up the worst home loss for the Yellow Jackets since 1981.
Currently 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the ACC, kenpom has Georgia Tech 94th in its efficiency rankings. The Jackets are 179th offensively but 49th defensively. They have played a decent schedule. Jeff Sagarin’s computer ranks Georgia Tech’s strength of schedule at No. 93.
The Syracuse slaughter aside, Josh Pastner’s team has played a lot of close games. The Jackets opened the year by beating North Carolina State 82-81 in overtime. They lost 82-78 at Georgia. They lost 62-61 in overtime at home to Arkansas when the Razorbacks’ Mason Jones banked in a three-pointer with 0.1 seconds left. And Tech beat Bethune-Cookman 68-65 at home.
The Jackets also knocked off visiting Nebraska 73-56 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The hosts held the Huskers to 32 percent shooting from the floor. Nebraska made just eight of 32 field goals in the second half.
2. Georgia Tech is missing its point guard
Jose Alvarado has missed five straight games, including the Syracuse debacle. The 6-foot junior from Brooklyn is nursing a sprained ankle. He’s not expected back until Dec. 31.
Alvarado was the team’s leading scorer last season. And without his ball-handling, the team has a tendency to turn it over. Georgia Tech has committed 122 turnovers, to just 101 for the opposition. The Jackets rank 310th out of the 350 D-1 teams in turnover percentage.
3. Michael Devoe is Tech’s most dangerous player
Bubba Parham scored 35 points last year against UK at Rupp Arena while playing for VMI, but Devoe is Tech’s leading scorer. The 6-5 sophomore from Orlando is averaging 21.4 points per game. He’s shooting 50.5 percent from the floor and 52.9 percent from three-point range, where he is 18-of-34.
Devoe scored a career-high 34 points in the team’s in-state rivalry loss to Georgia. He scored 26 points and dished seven assists in the win over Nebraska. He was 4-of-8 from three against the Huskers. His teammates were 1-of-15.
Before that, Devoe produced an old-fashioned three-point play with seven seconds left to beat Bethune-Cookman 68-65. He finished that game with 27 points.
And the Jackets do present frontcourt challenges. Moses Wright, a 6-9 junior, is averaging 17 points and nine rebounds per game. He scored 18 points and snatched nine rebounds in the win over Nebraska. He posted his first double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds vs. Bethune-Cookman.
James Banks III, a 6-10 senior, entered the Syracuse game leading the ACC in blocked shots at 4.67 per game. He ranked fourth in rebounds at 9.33. And he was scoring 11.8 points per game. Those numbers have slipped after an eight-point, three-rebound game against Syracuse, in which he failed to block a shot. Banks now: 11.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.0 blocked shots.
Despite not starting because of an internal matter, Banks had 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocked shots in the win over Bethune-Cookman. He scored 20 points and grabbed 14 boards against Arkansas.
4. The Jackets have been awful at the foul line
They have made just 58.6 percent of their free throws, which ranks 340th out of 350 teams. The Jackets were 12-of-23 from the foul line at Georgia. They were just 9-of-19 from the stripe in the second half and 14-of-25 for the game in the win over Bethune-Cookman.
The perpetrators: Banks is 4-of-14 from the foul line for 28.6 percent. Khalid Moore is 15-of-31 from the foul line for 48.4 percent. Asanti Price has made just two of seven for 28.6. Even Devoe isn’t great at the stripe. He’s 26-of-39 for 66.7 percent.
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5. So it’s Pastner vs. his old boss
A walk-on member of the 1997 Arizona team that beat Kentucky in the national title game, Pastner was an assistant at Arizona from 2002 to 2008 before joining John Calipari’s staff at Memphis. After Cal departed for Kentucky, Pastner was named the head coach at Memphis. He was just 31 years old.
He was 167-73 in seven seasons with the Tigers. His best year was 2012-13 when Memphis finished 31-5, including 16-0 in Conference USA, before being bounced in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. After that, however, Memphis slipped to 24-10, 18-14 and 19-15 and Pastner was let go.
He was hired by Georgia Tech for the 2016-17 season. His first three seasons went 21-16, 13-19 and 14-18. Pastner is 21-35 in the ACC. His program is also banned from the 2019-20 postseason because of multiple recruiting violations. Former assistant coach Darryl LaBarrie and Ron Bell, an ex-friend of Pastner, were implicated. The NCAA cleared Pastner.
This is Pastner’s first game against his old boss, whom Pastner said could go into politics.
Georgia Tech vs. Kentucky
When: Saturday
Where: Rupp Arena
Time: 5 p.m.
TV: ESPN Network with Jason Benetti and Jay Bilas
Radio: UK Network with Tom Leach and Mike Pratt
This story was originally published December 14, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
