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Georgia Tech Basketball: Yellow Jackets Stun #9 UNC
The Georgia Tech men’s basketball team stunned the country and closed out the 2016 calendar year in style with a 75-63 victory over the ninth ranked UNC Tar Heels.
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Gritty.
It’s the only word that somebody could use to describe the way that the Georgia Tech men’s basketball team played on Saturday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets used their gritty play style to open up their ACC schedule with a 75-63 stunner of ninth ranked UNC.
Coming into the season, Georgia Tech was predicted by some to not win any ACC games, the win officially ushers in the Josh Pastner era of Georgia Tech basketball.
For a team that struggled at the basics for the most part of the early part of the season, the Yellow Jackets looked like a whole different team on Saturday
Free throws. Turnovers. Fouling.
Those were three facets of the game that the Yellow Jackets got into trouble with early on this season. On Saturday, the Yellow Jackets shot better from the line, forced more turnovers than they allowed and had less fouls than UNC.
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In our game preview yesterday, we talked about if the Yellow Jackets were going to have a chance to win, they would have to hit their free throws. On Saturday, Georgia Tech shot 84.8% from the charity stripe, well above their season average of 65.4%.
When it came to the turnover battle, the Yellow Jackets were able to force bad passes by UNC while also collecting 15 steals over the course of the game Saturday. Six of those turnovers were by potential ACC player of the year, Joel Berry III.
For North Carolina, it was a story that seemed to plague the Yellow Jackets this season. Shots not falling and too many turnovers. Last time out for UNC, star forward Josh Jackson struggled which made him an impact player to watch on Saturday. That being said, Jackson struggled for the most part again against Georgia Tech shooting just 6-for-17 including 0-for-5 from beyond the arch.
Overall, North Carolina shot just 33.3% from the field and 19.2% from beyond the arch, both well below their season average thus far.
Player of the Game:
The player of the game for the Yellow Jackets was without a doubt guard Josh Okogie who made his presence known. The 6-foot-4 freshman went 7-for-14 from the floor and hit 11-of-13 free throws on Saturday for 26 points which lead all scorers. He also brought down five rebounds and collected three assists and two steals.
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The Yellow Jackets will have to come back strong next Wednesday as they take on Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Facing Duke isn’t an easy task by any means, add in the facts that Duke suffered their own upset loss as well as it being a Duke home game will make it even harder for the Yellow Jackets.
