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Georgia Tech Basketball: The 2013-2014 Turning Point

If there were one game that marked the turning point in this season, what would it be?

By Joey Weaver

In retrospect, any sports season has a lot of important moments. But if you had to pick one most important moment in Georgia Tech's season, what would it be?

If you ask me, I'm looking at the Dayton game. Georgia Tech lost at home to the Flyers by a score of 82-72.

Now, yes, it was only the fourth game of the year. However, I would argue it set the tone for the final 30 games of the season. The Dayton game was significant for three main reasons. First off, it was the Yellow Jackets' first loss of the season. They came in at 3-0, fresh off a big win over uga in Athens, and were taking on an A-10 team on their home court.

The second reason it was significant is because Dayton, believe it or not, was Georgia Tech's only out-of-conference opponent that made the NCAA Tournament. This was the only team that Georgia Tech played outside of the ACC that plays on a level that the Yellow Jackets want to attain, and the result set a tone for how the rest of the season would play out.

Finally, this game was significant because it saw freshman PG Travis Jorgenson tear his ACL, ending his season. Not only was this foreshadowing of a lot of the issues the team would experience over the course of the season, but it started a major depth issue at guard. For perspective, this game saw five guards play. Three of them were not involved by the end of the season (Jorgenson, Poole, Poole Jr), and Corey Heyward (a starter for most of ACC play) did not even check into the game. Without Jorgenson and after the dismissal of Solomon Poole, the guard depth thinned out considerably, having a detrimental effect on the team as it came down the stretch.

When you look back on this season, take a look at the Dayton game and think about how representative it was of the rest of the season for Georgia Tech. It's amazing, in retrospect, how much this game could have taught us about this team.

Would you agree that the Dayton game was the "turning point" of this basketball season? Any ideas on what would have been, if not this game?