Yellow Jacked Up
Fansided

Georgia Tech Basketball: Jackets lose to Tennessee in worst offensive performance since 2015

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 13: Brandon Alston #4 of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets shoots the ball with Kyle Alexander #11, Jalen Johnson #13 and Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers defending at Thompson-Boling Arena on November 13, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 13: Brandon Alston #4 of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets shoots the ball with Kyle Alexander #11, Jalen Johnson #13 and Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers defending at Thompson-Boling Arena on November 13, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

On Tuesday night, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets fell to the Tennessee Volunteers by a final score of 66-53 but in reality, it never felt that close.

Georgia Tech‘s 66-53 loss to Tennessee on Tuesday night may be a sign of what’s to come for the Yellow Jackets. It was a scene that has been all too common over the last few seasons, the Yellow Jackets struggling to perform offensively. The Yellow Jackets may have kept the score close, but in reality, the 66-53 score could have been much, much worse.

In their 13-point loss to the nation’s fifth-ranked team, the Yellow Jackets shot just 27.6 percent overall and just 15.8 percent from beyond the arch. Only one Yellow Jacket reached double-digits in points and three of the Jackets’ five starters combined for a total of four points.

An ugly offensive performance and statistically the worst by shooting percentage since the 2014-15 season for the Yellow Jackets.

The Jackets leading scorer on Tuesday was second-year transfer Brandon Alston who has now scored 17 and 16 points in the Jackets first two games. A strong start for a player who averaged just 5.4 points per game in 2017-18. That being said, even if Alston continues his success, the Jackets will need another player to step up. Especially those, they expected to perform and lead the team coming into the season.

One of those players is sophomore point guard Jose Alvarado. If Jose Alvarado struggles this season, the Jackets are in deep trouble. Alvarado had a horrific offensive performance against the Volunteers, making just 3-of-11 shot attempts while contributing just a single assist. He finished the night with eight points and fouled out.

The Jackets this season added two eligible transfers who were expected to make impacts in Shembari Phillips (Tennessee) and James Banks III (Texas) with the latter making his Tech debut against Tennessee. Phillips didn’t have his best performance in his return to Knoxville, scoring just two points. Banks III, on the other hand, was ruled eligible earlier in the day and looked solid but a little bit rusty. He finished the game with five points and seven rebounds. A performance he can certainly build on going forward.

Now, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Yellow Jackets against Tennessee. Despite having one of their worst offensive performance of the Josh Pastner, the Yellow Jackets defense once again proved to be strong and effective.

In Tennessee’s first two games this season, the Volunteers shot over 50 percent and scored 86 and 87 points respectively. The Yellow Jackets smothering like defense, however, was able to force Tennessee to take ugly shots at times, leading to the Volunteers to shoot at under 40 percent for the evening and scoring just 66 points

Last season, Tennessee scored 66 or less in six games and collected a 2-4 record in those games. Perhaps if the Yellow Jackets had even a bit more of anything that resembled the ability to score, they could have pulled out a victory over Tennessee.

That being said, the reason Tennessee won the game despite an ugly offensive performance themselves is thanks to their overall scoring depth at the top of their roster. Something the Jackets simply don’t have at this juncture.

Three of the Volunteers five starters scored in double-digits with two scoring 15 or more points including a 22-point performance out of junior guard Grant Williams. All five starters for Tennessee played 30+ minutes as well while only three players came off the bench. The Jackets in comparison had just one player with 30+ minutes and played 12 players total.

The Yellow Jackets will look to bounce back on Friday when they take on the East Carolina Pirates. The Pirates will enter the game with a 2-1 record and have averaged 79.0 points per game. The Yellow Jackets will need another strong defensive performance.