GT-Maryland Preview

Some fun facts and figures, via the indefatigable GT Sports Info department:

The game can be seen in Atlanta on WATL-TV. Radio coverage of the game will be provided by the Georgia Tech IMG Sports Network and can be heard in Atlanta on WYAY-FM (106.7). The Maryland radio broadcast can be heard nationally on satellite radio - Sirius channel 134 and XM channel 196.

Maryland (9-5) has won four of its last five games, including an 88-80 win Dec. 12 at Boston College in the ACC opener for both teams. The Terps are one of the better rebounding teams in the ACC (+7.4, 3rd in the ACC) and stand toward the middle of the conference rankings in most offensive and defensive categories.

Following Saturday’s game, Tech completes its four-game road stretch with a Tuesday night game at No. 7 Duke (7 p.m.) before returning home for three straight home games.

Fast Break Points

• Tech learned this week that Robert Carter, Jr., will be sidelined indefinitely after sustaining a tear of the meniscus in his left knee during the Yellow Jackets’ game at Charlotte last Sunday. An MRI taken Tuesday revealed the tear, and Carter, Jr., will undergo surgery next Tuesday (Jan. 7).• With a win Saturday, Tech will be 37-35 vs. Maryland as an ACC foe. A Terrapin win will leave the teams tied 36-36 as ACC brethren.

• Georgia Tech averaged 72.0 points per game in its pre-conference schedule, nearly six points per game better than 2012-13 (66.6) and eight better than 2011-12 (63.8). Tech has also posted better numbers over last year in field goal percentage (44.3/44.0), free throw percentage (70.5/64.3), free throws made per game (15.5/11.4), assists (14.9/14.2) and rebound margin (+7.3/+5.9).

• Tech’s defensive numbers also have risen over last year’s pre-conference schedule (65.0 ppg/53.5, 38.8 pct. FG/35.1), but its ranking within the conference remains similarly high. Tech ranks 56th nationally (7th in the ACC) in scoring defense, 29th in field goal percentage defense (6th in the ACC).

• In its non-conference schedule, Tech played six teams currently ranked 121 or higher in the CBSSports.com RPI rankings (Illinois 17, St. John’s 56, Dayton 57, Mississippi 73, Vanderbilt 84, Charlotte 118), only two of those at home. Eleven of the 15 ACC schools are ranked higher than Tech’s current No. 126 (as of Thursday), and six of those are in the top 68.

• Tech has out-rebounded every opponent this season, 13 straight games. It is the longest such streak for the Jackets dating back to the 2000-01 season.

Series vs. Maryland

• Georgia Tech has won the last two meetings and three of the last five in the series, including a 78-68 victory at McCamish Pavilion in 2012-13 in the teams’ only regular-season meeting.

• Tech’s win in 2012-13 gave the Yellow Jackets a 36-35 record against Maryland since 1979-80, which is its second-best mark against any ACC team since the Jackets joined the league (37-34 vs. Virginia). The teams met only four times before Tech joined the ACC, and the Terps won all four.

• Fourteen of the 21 games between Tech and Maryland since the 2000-01 season have been decided by 10 points or fewer. Maryland’s 61-50 win at Comcast Center on Jan. 15, 2012 is the largest margin of victory for either team over the last nine meetings.

• Tech was 17-11 against Maryland in Alexander Memorial Coliseum, and is 21-11 in games played in Atlanta. The Terps won the last four meetings at the Thrillerdome, and they were 12-6 against the Jackets on their home court under Gary Williams.

• Percentage-wise and in terms of the number of wins, Tech’s 11-24 road record vs. Maryland is the second-best it has against any team in the ACC. The Jackets are 1-7 in the Comcast Center, and were 10-17 at Cole Field House. Tech’s only win at the Comcast Center was a 75-64 victory during its Final Four season of 2003-04.

• Maryland won the first nine games of the series, but Tech turned the tables under head coach Bobby Cremins, winning 28 of 35 meetings (including 10 in a row at one point) through the 1995-96 season. The Terps won the next seven in a row before Cremins’ last Tech team won 69-68 at home on Jan. 15, 2000.

• Tech is 4-4 in ACC Tournament meetings with Maryland. The Terrapins were Tech’s first-ever ACC Tournament opponent, a 51-49 overtime win in the 1980 first round in Greensboro. Maryland also was Tech’s first ACC Tournament victim, in 1983 at the Omni by a 64-58 score.