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Georgia Tech Basketball vs Loyola-Chicago: Jackets look to upset Ramblers in Round of 64

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

Jan 20, 2021; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Josh Pastner talks to guard Michael Devoe (0) against the Clemson Tigers in the first half at McCamish Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 20, 2021; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Josh Pastner talks to guard Michael Devoe (0) against the Clemson Tigers in the first half at McCamish Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 15, 2020; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Loyola Ramblers guard Braden Norris (4) works the ball against Wisconsin Badgers guard D’Mitrik Trice (0) during the second half at the Kohl Center. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 15, 2020; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Loyola Ramblers guard Braden Norris (4) works the ball against Wisconsin Badgers guard D’Mitrik Trice (0) during the second half at the Kohl Center. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports /

Georgia Tech’s offense vs Loyola-Chicago’s defense:

Georgia Tech offense this season has been stellar, averaging 75.5 points per game the highest average in the Josh Pastner era. They’ve done so while owning a shooting line of .474/.349/.727. That being said, that was with Moses Wright in the lineup every night this season and now the Jackets will be missing his 17 points per contest, a huge loss for any team and on paper it’s hard to see how the Jackets will replace that.

For most teams, the Yellow Jackets offense poses issues as they were very strong in the paint this season but also were a high quality shooting team from beyond when given shot opportunities. Loyola’s defense will pose a similar challenge to the Jackets as the Virginia Cavaliers, who held the Jackets to 49 and 62 points in their two matchups this season. Those were two of the Jackets’ four lowest offensive outputs of the season.

As strong as the Jackets offense has been, Loyola-Chicago’s defense has been better this season. They own the country’s top statistical defense, allowing just 55.5 points per game. The Ramblers are keeping opponents to a mere 40.7% shooting clip this season including just 32.6% from three-point range. They’re suffocating style of play also leads to tons of turnovers as they averaged 6.9 steals and 13.9 forced turnovers per game this season. The Yellow Jackets have turn the ball over quite a bit this season, an average of 11.1 times per contest, so ball security will be of the utmost importance for the Jackets in this one.

Overall, this matchup is likely going to come down to how well the Jackets shoot from long-range as they won’t have the inside presence they usually do with Moses Wright. The Jackets offense should be able to find success at times as they’re strong enough shooters as a whole but they’ll need to play smart basketball and limit the turnovers while also having good shot selection.

Georgia Tech’s defense vs Loyola-Chicago’s offense:

Georgia Tech’s defense in the 2020-21 season hasn’t been as strong as in years past but is still respectable. The Jackets allowed 70.0 points per game this season though if you take out their season opening 123-120 loss to Georgia State, that average falls to  67.3 points per game. That being said, the Jackets are still allowing opponents to make 45.9% of their shots which is quite a bit higher than one would desire and that also includes a three-point percentage of 36.6%. Both of those will be key numbers as the Ramblers are highly efficient offensively hitting 50.5% of their shots from the field and 36.8% from beyond the arc. The one place the Jackets will look to take advantage of is Loyola’s turnover tendencies as they’ve averaged 11.9 turnovers per game this season which includes opponents averaging 5.1 steals.

This matchup is going to be the one that likely decides the game. The Jackets offense will be able to do enough against Loyola to put themselves in a position to win but can the Jackets keep the Ramblers in check offensively? The Ramblers are not a dynamic offense by any means but their efficiency is scary. We’ll discuss this more below but keeping Cameron Krutwig in check will be very important, he’s the engine of the Loyola offense and his play is going to dictate a large portion of how this game is going to go. Outside Krutwig, the Ramblers have scoring options but don’t really have that “go-to” guy outside the senior big man.

With that, let’s go to the the Jackets keys to victory.