by Sharon Thorsland
A red-hot North Carolina team heads to Atlanta for a Tuesday night match up with Georgia Tech. The 3rd ranked Tar Heels are riding a ten game win streak following a come from behind win at Florida State. That moved them to 17-3 on the season and 9-0 in the ACC. Georgia Tech started off the season with some promise, going 8-4 with impressive wins over Duke and Alabama. But since then they’ve lost eight of their last nine games to fall to 9-11 overall and 2-7 in the ACC. Tip-off is set for 7:00 on WBT.
The Yellow Jackets have a first year head coach in former Arizona and NBA point guard Damon Stoudemire. His squad has struggled to score this season, they’re averaging just under 73 points a game and shoot just 32% from behind the arc. Plus they turn over the ball at a clip of 12 per game. Only three players average in double figures, led by junior guard Miles Kelly’s14.2 a contest. He starts alongside freshman point guard Naithan George. Freshman center Baye Ndongo has been impressive, he’s averaging over 13 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, while Florida transfer Kowacie Reeves, Jr. chips in just under 12 points a contest.
As much as scoring has been a issue, scoring defense has been even more of a problem for the Jackets. They rank next to last in the ACC in scoring defense allowing 76 points a game. And now they’ll face a UNC team that boasts the number one offense in the league at 83 points a contest, and leads the league in rebounding behind Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram, who combine for nearly 19 a game.
This should be an easy win for UNC but it also has the makings of a trap game. The Yellow Jackets have pulled off several upsets this season already, and if you hadn’t heard, the Tar Heels have a really big game coming up against Duke on Saturday. Not looking ahead will be key for UNC, who beat Tech in their only matchup last season and has won three straight in the rivalry. The way this team has been playing, I don’t think there’s any chance they’ll underestimate the Yellow Jackets, especially after their narrow win over FSU on Saturday. This should be another “W” – Go Tar Heels!
