Yellow Jackets Fall At Georgia 75-61

Georgia Tech led at halftime 34-33 in a close, physical half.  Coming out of halftime, the Bulldogs jumped to a 6 point lead in a minute and a half and the Jackets were never able to make it back.  After a respectable first half, nothing went right for them in the second half.

The first problem was offense.  They could not get a shot to fall in the second half, scoring only 27 points in the entire second half.  Pretty much the only player who looked decent offensively was Adam Smith who hit three three-pointers early in the half and then disappeared with the rest of the team.  Marcus Georges-Hunt got to the line but was ineffective otherwise.

The second problem was rebounding.  Georgia Tech has been able to get through tough stretches of offensive play by dominating the offensive glass and giving the team second and third chances to score.  This was not the case today as the Bulldogs did a great job of defensive rebounding and keeping the Jackets to just one shot.  On the other side of the floor, it was the Bulldogs who gave themselves second and third chances.  Georgia Tech came into the game expecting to control the boards and their failure to do so was a major factor in the loss.

The third was the perimeter defense.  The Jackets did a great job of stopping the pick and roll that Georgia ran almost every possession.  In the second half, the Bulldogs made some adjustments and made the Jackets pay off of the pick and roll.  JJ Frazier was the main player taking advantage of this by scoring  35 points, although several of those were due to end of the game fouling.

The fourth was fouling.  Georgia Tech had been great all year at avoiding foul trouble but that was not the case in this game.  Mitchell spent much of the game on the bench due to foul trouble. James White also spent much of the game in foul trouble.  Having Tech's two best rebounders on the bench gave the Bulldogs the advantage on the boards.  Mitchell in particular was a tough loss.  He had a double-double in every game this year, but ended the game with 0 points and just 4 rebounds.

Georgia Tech had a chance to win this game but played poorly in the entire second half.  Tadrick Jackson had a solid day, scoring 14 points on 5-11 shooting.  Nick Jacobs also had a respectable game with 11 points and 6 rebounds.  Their next game is at home on Monday, December 21 against Southeastern Louisiana.