LSU 69, Georgia Tech 53 - FINAL - Tigers improve to 9-0

After a layoff that felt like an eternity for exams, basketball is BACK!!! As part of "Holiday Hoopsgiving", LSU will travel to Atlanta and play in State Farm Arena (where the Hawks play) and play the 3rd of 4 games at the arena. LSU has been on CBSSports but this might be the first time many people across the country have a chance to really see our team play.

The last time our boys took the floor, they absolutely dominated Ohio for 10 minutes then completely lost focus for about 20 minutes before dominating the final 10 minutes again. After the game, Will Wade lost his mind. I almost feel bad for the players because the last week and a half of practice has probably been Hell. Wade said after the Ohio game this break is going to be a reset to get the team back on track. Meanwhile, LSU is 8-0, top 25, and 2nd in the NET...but not good enough for The General.

Georgia Tech:

Georgia Tech is 5-3 coming off of back to back loses to Wisconsin and North Carolina. They were beating Wisconsin with 2 minutes left and were actually tied with North Carolina at halftime. This will be another solid test on the road for a young Tigers squad.

They're very much on the same level as Penn State and Wake. They aren't expected to be great, but they have some talent and they're a Power 5 school. This day in age, an team can pull off a W (look at Rutgers defeating Purdue last night)

Notable Players-

SR G Michael Devoe 6'5 190 - Devoe is a bad bad dude. He's extremely talented. He's averaging 23.3ppg, 5.4rpg, 3.9rpg, 1.7spg, and he shoots 54% from 3 55% from the floor overall. He averages 6 3-point attempts per game. Against Wisconsin he scored 33 points on 11-20 shooting...their entire team only scored 66. Against UNC, they really made life difficult for him and made him more of a passer. He was only 6 of 13 and 1 of 5 from 3 and finished with 13 points and they got blown out. What I'm saying is he has to score 25 for Georgia Tech to be in this game.

SR G/F Jordan Usher 6'7 220 - 5th year Senior who spent 2 years at USCw early in his career. Averages 13.5ppg, 7.1rpg. Really good athlete. Will shoot the ball but he's only 26% from 3. Devoe is a one man show and is Batman, but Usher does a decent job of being Robin.

FR G Dallan Coleman 6'6 215 - 7.6ppg, 58% from 3. Really a 3-point specialist at this point in his career. He averages about 3 3 attempts per game. Decent athlete though and provides some length for the Jackets.

JR C Rodney Howard 6'10 245 - Started his career at Georgia before transferring to GT. Getting extended minutes this year and his numbers have improved. 7.6ppg, 6.4rpg. Pretty good offensive rebounder. Won't wow with athleticism or skill, but he's a solid big man that can contest shots down low.

Soph G Deivon Smith 6'1 170 - Transfer from Miss State. Averages 7ppg, 4rpg, 3apg. Not much of a shooter at all despite his size. He is a good athlete though, will attack the basket. Probably the 3rd best pure scorer on GT.

JR G Kyle Sturdivant 6'2 197 - 7.0ppg. I could almost say the same exact thing about Sturdivant as I do about Smith. Not a good shooter, won't really even try. He can score decently for his lack of outside shot though.

SR F Khalid Moore 6'7 210 - 5.5ppg, 3.6rpg. Very good athlete. Not very big but a veteran that plays hard and competes.

FR G Miles Kelly 6'5 170 - Depth player. Big games will play but probably won't be a ton unless foul trouble. Shoots a good but from outside but only 3 for 16 on the year from 3.

Stats:
Offensive(national rank)
PPG: 72.9 (129th)
FG%: 48% (34th)
3P%: 40.3% (16th)
3PAPG: 17.4 (319th)
2P%: 51.4% (123rd)
FT%: 67.5% (254th)
APG: 14.5 (83rd)
TOPG: 12.9 (150th)
ORPG: 7.5 (241st)
Offensive Efficiency: 1.027(120th)

Defensive
PPG: 68.3 (146th)
FG%: 43.6% (201st)
3P%: 31.8% (122nd)
2P%: 51.4% (123rd)
SPG: 7.0 (135th)
BPG: 2.4 (260th)
Opp Turnovers Per Game: 12.5 (232nd)
Offensive Rebounds Allowed Per Game: 6.5 (41st)
Defensive Efficiency: .962 (142nd)

Breakdown of Players and Stats

It starts with Devoe, trickles down to Usher, then Coleman/Smith/Sturdivant/Howard all get the leftovers.

A few things of note that are key. Their 3 point shooting is a bit skewed because of Devoe and Coleman. Overall, they don't have that many players who are very good from the outside. They don't shoot many 3's at all, but they allow Devoe to do what he does from out there then every one else will not force anything up.

Their offensive and defensive efficiency are pretty much what you'd expect. Middle of the road. All of their stats are average and then a few are below average. They don't press on offense and will work for the best shot, and they do a good job not allowing second chance points on O.

Prediction

I'm eager to see how this team comes out. Wade has been irate about our starts, specifically from the offense. He said the offense is on him, he's screwed it up. He also said he's going to get it fixed. I have to imagine this team is going to bring it pretty good tomorrow. I'm sure we will still have some ups and downs, but defense always travels. I don't think this is a great matchup for GT, but in their defense I don't think there are many great matchups against LSU. I think LSU forces GT to play a lot faster than they want and pull away.

LSU 78
GT 64