Looking ahead to Wednesday night’s game…
1. There were questions about whether or not Georgia Tech could win three ACC games in the entire conference schedule. The Yellow Jackets have an opportunity to win their third in a row Wednesday night against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. (9 p.m., Fox Sports South in Atlanta)
Odds are against the Jackets – kenpom.com assesses their win probability at 18 percent, and the Hokies are 10-1 at home – but it would be a remarkable achievement. Tech put together a four-game winning streak last year in the ACC with coach Brian Gregory’s strongest team. Prior to that, Tech’s last three-game winning streak in the ACC regular season was in 2007-08. Tech has not started 4-2 in ACC play (which it would with a win over the Hokies) since the 2003-04 season, a year that ended in the national championship game.
The on-court similarities between the 2016-17 Jackets and the team of Jarrett Jack, B.J. Elder, and Luke Schenscher might largely end there (the roster also included Mario West, now the team’s player personnel director), but what Tech has accomplished thus far is most laudable.
“I feel like it’s never tough for us when we play together,” guard Josh Okogie said. “At the end of the day, we’re all we’ve got. When we stay together, everything comes easier.”
2. Georgia Tech will have a severe test of its 3-point defense from the Hokies. Through Monday's games, Virginia Tech ranked 30th nationally in 3-point field-goal percentage at 39.4 percent. It's a weakness for the Jackets, which was 174th nationally and last in the ACC at 34.4 percent and is probably a little fortunate that the rate isn't a little higher.
Hokies guard Ahmed Hill averages 2.7 3-pointers per game and is making 44.2 percent of his attempts. Hill is from Augusta, and finished his career ranked third all-time in GHSA history in scoring with 3,024 points.
“Can’t give him any looks,” Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner said.
3. It will be a matchup of one of the best offenses in the ACC against one of the best defenses in the league. Virginia Tech's effective field-goal percentage (which proportionately weights 3-point baskets) is 56.1 percent, 21st nationally and third in the ACC. Georgia Tech's effective defensive field-goal percentage is 45.7 percent, 27th nationally and fifth nationally.
4. Hokies guard Tyrie Jackson is the brother of Jackets guard Tadric Jackson. Tyrie, a freshman, is redshirting this season. Virginia Tech guard Zach LeDay, who is averaging 16.2 points per game, is a former teammate of Jackets guard Josh Heath. The two started their careers at South Florida, but both transferred after the 2013-14 season when Heath's father Stan was fired as head coach.
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