Georgia Tech Basketball Hosts No. 6/8 Florida State
Yellow Jackets and Seminoles tip at 7 p.m. Wednesday [RSN] in at McCamish Pavilion
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech returns home from a three-game road stretch to face two of the three teams tied for first-place in the Atlantic Coast Conference this week, beginning with a 7 p.m. contest against No. 6/8 Florida State Wednesday night at McCamish Pavilion.
Game notes | Coach Pastner audio from Monday | Where to watch | Watch live on ACC Network Extra
Tech (11-8, 3-4 ACC), in its first season under head coach Josh Pastner, went 1-2 on its recent road trip, defeating NC State (86-76) before dropping close decisions at Virginia Tech (62-61) and No. 16 Virginia (62-49). Tech enters the week tied for eighth place in the ACC standings.
Florida State (18-2, 6-1 ACC) opens the week tied for first place with Notre Dame and North Carolina after defeating the 15th-ranked Fighting Irish and No. 12 Louisville at home last week. The Seminoles, who have won at Virginia and defeated Duke at home, have lost only at North Carolina.
Wednesday’s game will be aired on the ACC’s Regional Sports Network (Fox Sports South in Georgia), and will be streamed live online on the ACC Network Extra, available through the WatchESPN app. Radio coverage is provided by Tech’s flagship station, 680 the Fan (680 AM/93.7 FM), and is available via satellite radio (Sirius ch. 84, XM ch. 84).
STARTING FIVE
• Georgia Tech is in a midst of three straight games against teams ranked 16th or higher in the nation. The Yellow Jackets lost at No. 16 Virginia Saturday, and face No. 6 Florida State and No. 14 Notre Dame at home this week.
• Three keys for Tech - The Jackets are 11-1 this season when they shoot a better percentage from the floor, are 10-0 when scoring 70 points and 10-1 when attempting more free throws than the opponent.
• Ben Lammers’ +10.9 per game scoring average increase over the 2015-16 season is the second best in the ACC. But Tadric Jackson (+5.7) and Quinton Stephens (+5.7) also have posted impressive increases over last season. Josh Heath (+3.3) has more than doubled his 2015-16 average.
• Georgia Tech leads the ACC in field goal percentage defense vs. ACC teams, and ranks fifth in scoring defense. The Yellow Jackets rank 35th nationally vs. all opponents in field goal percentage defense, and 35th in adjusted defensive efficiency accoring to KenPom.com.
• Georgia Tech has shot 46.5 percent (100-for-215) from the floor in its last four games, 47.1 percent from three-point range (24-for-51).
SERIES NOTES
• Georgia Tech snapped a 10-game losing streak in the series with its 86-80 victory in Tallahassee last season, the teams’ only 2015-16 meeting. Tech’s last win over the Seminoles had occurred in Tallahassee on Feb. 13, 2007 by a score of 63-57.
• Going back to the team’s March 6, 2004 meeting, 10 of the 17 games have been decided by four or fewer points.
• The scores of 10 of the last 12 games were played with scores in the 50s or the 60s, with the exception of FSU’s 72-66 win on Feb. 10. 2011 in Atlanta and last year’s game. Tech has scored more than 66 points against FSU only twice.
• Since FSU joined the ACC, Tech is 18-25 against the Seminoles. Florida State won the first six in a row, Tech followed by winning five straight, and is 13-19 against the Seminoles since then.
• In those 43 games, 21 have been decided by four points or less, 32 by fewer than 10 points. One of those games went to double-overtime, which the Yellow Jackets won 111-108 on Feb. 11, 1999 in Tallahassee.
• Tech is 16-17 against the Seminoles in Atlanta, all but three of those games at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
• Tech is 7-13 against Seminoles teams led by head coach Leonard Hamilton. Tech is 8-13 against Hamilton overall, with a victory over his Miami team in December of 1997.
• Tech and Florida State were both members of the old Metro Conference from 1976-78, and the Seminoles won three of those four meetings.
PASTNER ON VIRGINIA’S LATE 1ST HALF RUN
“I think they [Virginia] got an offensive rebound in that section. They were up 29-28. We were right there. They’re a really good team, and we’ve been good all year answering runs. We didn’t answer that one. We’ve got to be able to score the ball, and we missed a lot of layups. It’s been a point of contention for us. We’ve got to continue to get better at it, work at it, and hope we put the ball in the basket in those situations.”
Yellow Jackets and Seminoles tip at 7 p.m. Wednesday [RSN] in at McCamish Pavilion
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech returns home from a three-game road stretch to face two of the three teams tied for first-place in the Atlantic Coast Conference this week, beginning with a 7 p.m. contest against No. 6/8 Florida State Wednesday night at McCamish Pavilion.
Game notes | Coach Pastner audio from Monday | Where to watch | Watch live on ACC Network Extra
Tech (11-8, 3-4 ACC), in its first season under head coach Josh Pastner, went 1-2 on its recent road trip, defeating NC State (86-76) before dropping close decisions at Virginia Tech (62-61) and No. 16 Virginia (62-49). Tech enters the week tied for eighth place in the ACC standings.
Florida State (18-2, 6-1 ACC) opens the week tied for first place with Notre Dame and North Carolina after defeating the 15th-ranked Fighting Irish and No. 12 Louisville at home last week. The Seminoles, who have won at Virginia and defeated Duke at home, have lost only at North Carolina.
Wednesday’s game will be aired on the ACC’s Regional Sports Network (Fox Sports South in Georgia), and will be streamed live online on the ACC Network Extra, available through the WatchESPN app. Radio coverage is provided by Tech’s flagship station, 680 the Fan (680 AM/93.7 FM), and is available via satellite radio (Sirius ch. 84, XM ch. 84).
STARTING FIVE
• Georgia Tech is in a midst of three straight games against teams ranked 16th or higher in the nation. The Yellow Jackets lost at No. 16 Virginia Saturday, and face No. 6 Florida State and No. 14 Notre Dame at home this week.
• Three keys for Tech - The Jackets are 11-1 this season when they shoot a better percentage from the floor, are 10-0 when scoring 70 points and 10-1 when attempting more free throws than the opponent.
• Ben Lammers’ +10.9 per game scoring average increase over the 2015-16 season is the second best in the ACC. But Tadric Jackson (+5.7) and Quinton Stephens (+5.7) also have posted impressive increases over last season. Josh Heath (+3.3) has more than doubled his 2015-16 average.
• Georgia Tech leads the ACC in field goal percentage defense vs. ACC teams, and ranks fifth in scoring defense. The Yellow Jackets rank 35th nationally vs. all opponents in field goal percentage defense, and 35th in adjusted defensive efficiency accoring to KenPom.com.
• Georgia Tech has shot 46.5 percent (100-for-215) from the floor in its last four games, 47.1 percent from three-point range (24-for-51).
SERIES NOTES
• Georgia Tech snapped a 10-game losing streak in the series with its 86-80 victory in Tallahassee last season, the teams’ only 2015-16 meeting. Tech’s last win over the Seminoles had occurred in Tallahassee on Feb. 13, 2007 by a score of 63-57.
• Going back to the team’s March 6, 2004 meeting, 10 of the 17 games have been decided by four or fewer points.
• The scores of 10 of the last 12 games were played with scores in the 50s or the 60s, with the exception of FSU’s 72-66 win on Feb. 10. 2011 in Atlanta and last year’s game. Tech has scored more than 66 points against FSU only twice.
• Since FSU joined the ACC, Tech is 18-25 against the Seminoles. Florida State won the first six in a row, Tech followed by winning five straight, and is 13-19 against the Seminoles since then.
• In those 43 games, 21 have been decided by four points or less, 32 by fewer than 10 points. One of those games went to double-overtime, which the Yellow Jackets won 111-108 on Feb. 11, 1999 in Tallahassee.
• Tech is 16-17 against the Seminoles in Atlanta, all but three of those games at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
• Tech is 7-13 against Seminoles teams led by head coach Leonard Hamilton. Tech is 8-13 against Hamilton overall, with a victory over his Miami team in December of 1997.
• Tech and Florida State were both members of the old Metro Conference from 1976-78, and the Seminoles won three of those four meetings.
PASTNER ON VIRGINIA’S LATE 1ST HALF RUN
“I think they [Virginia] got an offensive rebound in that section. They were up 29-28. We were right there. They’re a really good team, and we’ve been good all year answering runs. We didn’t answer that one. We’ve got to be able to score the ball, and we missed a lot of layups. It’s been a point of contention for us. We’ve got to continue to get better at it, work at it, and hope we put the ball in the basket in those situations.”
