Georgia Tech Basketball: 3-Game Homestand Begins With Notre Dame
Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
After a rough road trip that saw the Georgia Tech basketball team start off conference play 0-2, Brian Gregory and his squad will come back home to the friendly confines of McCamish Pavilion to play against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Date: 1/11/14
Game Time: 12:00 pm ET
Venue: McCamish Pavilion, Atlanta, GA
Series Record: Georgia Tech leads, 6-2
Last Meeting: Georgia Tech won, 88-80 (OT) on Feb. 24, 1990 in South Bend.
Records: Notre Dame (10-5 , 1-1 ACC), Georgia Tech (9-6, 0-2 ACC)
Current Odds: Even
Injuries: GT – Travis Jorgensen, Out For Season (knee), Corey Heyward, Out for Season (knee) Robert Carter Jr. (knee), out indefinitely; Notre Dame – None
TV: ACC Network/ESPN3
Radio: 106.7 FM
Georgia Tech has to get themselves back on track. It’s a little bit early in the conference schedule to say that this is a must-win game, but honestly for the Yellow Jackets this is pretty close to being a must-win.Georgia Tech is coming into this home tilt against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9-6 overall and 0-2 in conference play. Brian Gregory‘s Jackets’ need to stop this losing skid very quickly, before the momentum from losing continues to put them in a downward spiral that sends them to the very bottom of the standings.
Playing against Notre Dame is not going to be easy Saturday. Fighting Irish coach Mike Brey will be bringing into McCamish Pavilion a disciplined squad that plays fundamentally sound basketball. Notre Dame came down to earth a little after defeating Duke, 79-77, this past Sunday with a 77-70 to the North Carolina State Wolfpack on Tuesday. Notre Dame will be looking to remedy that loss as quickly as possible.
The Irish are one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the ACC, shooting the trey at a 38.8% clip, which is good for second in the conference. The Irish are led by 6-foot-5 Senior guard Jerian Grant who averages 19 ppg on 51.8% shooting from the field and 40.8 % from beyond the arc. 6-foot-11 Senior center Garrick Sherman is the man in the middle for the Fighting Irish. He is the second leading scorer at 14.9 ppg to go along with his team high 8.3 rebounds per game.
Those two players should present some nice one-on-one matchups to watch in this game. Jerian Grant should be matched up against Marcus Georges-Hunt and Garrick Sherman should be matched up with Daniel Miller for most of the game. It will be imperative that Miller and Georges-Hunt not only have big offensive games, but they also need to stay out of foul trouble on the defensive end.
The point guard duel between Notre Dame’s Eric Atkins and Georgia Tech’s Trae Golden should also be a solid matchup to follow during this game. They are both senior floor generals that like to push the ball and get to the rim as often as possible.
Georgia Tech needs to make sure that they contest all shots taken from the perimeter. Also they need to get back to their staple, which is beating teams on the glass. In their last game against the Duke Blue Devils, Tech was outrebounded for the first time this season 32-23.
This is going to be a game that the Yellow Jackets should be able to get up for, and it will be the first time Tech has played the Irish as members of the ACC. The “Irish I Was a Yellow Jacket” home crowd may be able to energize Georgia Tech and carry them to their first conference win, they just need to be sure and put two solid halves together.
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