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Georgia Tech Basketball: After disastrous weekend, Jackets face must win situation against Wofford

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 07: A general view of the tipoff of the Louisville Cardinals' basketball game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets during the game at Hank McCamish Pavilion on January 7, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Comer/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 07: A general view of the tipoff of the Louisville Cardinals' basketball game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets during the game at Hank McCamish Pavilion on January 7, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Comer/Getty Images) /
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After a disastrous weekend, Georgia Tech Basketball must quickly refocus and get back on track against Wofford.

It’s no secret this past weekend was absolutely disastrous for Georgia Tech basketball. The Jackets entered the weekend with a 4-1 record and winners of four straight. When Monday morning came, the Jackets woke up with a 4-3 record, wondering what had just happened.

On Friday night, the Jackets took on Grambling State who entered the game with a 1-5 record. On paper it should’ve been an easy win, the Tigers had been one of the worst teams in college basketball over the past several years and that trend looked to be continuing this season.

When the buzzer sounded, however, to end the game on Friday, it wasn’t the Yellow Jackets on top. It was the Tigers who walked away with a 64-63 win courtesy of an own-basket by the Jackets with just seconds remaining. While Grambling played their best game in years, the Jackets don’t have anybody to blame but themselves for the loss.

It was simply a loss due to a lack of concentration and focus and ultimately is a loss this will affect the Jackets tournament hopes one and or another. Chances are the upset will also be one of the biggest of the year if not the biggest overall.

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Following Friday’s shocking loss to Grambling, the Jackets had to focus on the upcoming opponent, the Tennessee Volunteers. The Volunteers entered Sunday with a 5-1 record and had an upset win over Purdue earlier this season.

Ultimately, the Jackets could not get over an early deficit against the Volunteers and fell 77-70. The bright side to the seven-point loss was the fact that four different Yellow Jackets had double-digit points. The ability to spread the ball around will be a key to the Jackets offense going forward especially once Josh Okogie returns.

On Wednesday, the Jackets will take on the Wofford Terriers in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The Terriers enter the game with a respectable 4-4 record but have struggled against teams from major conferences this season. That being said, the Jackets are only given a 58.5% chance to win according to ESPN’s BPI matchup predictor.

The Jackets can not afford to take the Terriers lightly as they have averaged 76.3 points per game this season while shooting just below a 50% clip, at 49.1%. They’re also shooting at a stellar .432 clip from the outside, the ninth best shooting percentage in the country from three-point range. As a team that struggles to make their own three-pointers, the Jackets would be in trouble if Wofford has a strong game from beyond the arch. If the Jackets aren’t careful on, they could easily drop their third straight game on Wednesday night.

If they want to earn their fifth victory of the season, the Jackets will need to enter the game focused and ready to go. Another loss in the non-conference slate will place the Jackets in a hole in terms of the NCAA Tournament that will be hard to climb out of once they enter January. It feels early to say it, but Wednesday night has turned into a “must win” for Georgia Tech basketball.