Georgia Tech Returns Home To Face North Carolina Tar Heels
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
After splitting a pair on the road, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets look to get a little home cooking when Roy Williams and his North Carolina Tar Heels come to town Wednesday night.
(NOTE: Game is subject to postponement due to inclement weather in the Atlanta area)
Date: 1/29/14
Game Time: 7:00 pm EST
Venue: McCamish Pavilion, Atlanta, Georgia
Series Record: North Carolina Leads, 63-24
Last Meeting: February 19, 2013 – North Carolina defeated Georgia Tech 70-58, in Atlanta
Records: North Carolina (12-7 , 2-4 ACC) Georgia Tech (11-9 , 2-5 ACC),
Current Odds: UNC -4
Injuries: GT – Travis Jorgensen, Out For Season (knee), Robert Carter Jr., out indefinitely (knee), North Carolina – None
TV: ESPN2/WatchESPN
Radio: 106.7 FM
The Jackets played well on their road trip. It is a shame that they came out of it with a split because the effort they put forth merited an undefeated road swing. Tech has to move on from the heartbreak of their 80-78 overtime loss and get refocused for their Wednesday night home matchup with the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Historically, Tech hasn’t fared well against Carolina, but the Tar Heels are underachieving this season and UNC head coach Roy Williams is going to have his group hungry for a road victory, being as they have not won on the road so far in conference play.
After losing their first three conference tilts, the Heels have won two of their last three, and come into McCamish Pavilion with a 2-4 record in ACC conference play. UNC is led by a Preseason Second Team All-American in 6-foot-9 Junior forward James Michael McAdoo, who brings 14.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game with him to the court. The leading scorer of the Tar Heels is 6-foot-1 Sophomore guard Marcus Paige who drops 16.7 ppg to go along with 4.2 assists.
North Carolina, as usual, is one of the higher scoring teams in the ACC averaging 75.4 points per contest which ranks fourth in the conference and they are also the top rebounding team in the ACC at 43.3 boards per game.
This is a game that coach Brian Gregory‘s Yellow Jackets are going to have to win in the trenches, meaning Tech is going to have to battle in the paint. The pace of the game should be comfortable for the Jackets since Roy Williams likes an up-tempo flow. What will give Georgia Tech some difficulty (once again) is the trapping style of defense that the Heels’ will deploy every now and then.
UNC is a long, rangy, team that loves to cause turnovers as evidence by the 7.8 steals they get per game which ranks second in the ACC.
Trae Golden and Corey Heyward are going to have to value the basketball in this game and not commit too many turnovers. Also for Golden it would be nice to see him stay aggressive in the scoring column. The Tech point guard is coming off a road trip that saw him average 21 points per game.
Daniel Miller and Kammeon Holsey need to make sure that they keep their presence felt on the floor and are not sitting on the bench in any kind of foul trouble. Quinton Stephens has to be big off the bench for Coach Gregory again after a strong 13 point showing in Raleigh.
The McCamish Pavilion crowd is going to be hyped up for this matchup, and this would be a quality win for Georgia Tech if they can get it. No matter where they stand right now, this is Roy Williams and the storied North Carolina Tar Heels coming to town, and a win over this squad will do nothing but boost the Yellow Jackets confidence.
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