The Georgia Tech basketball team desperately needs wins. It better get a couple of them before the end of the month ahead of a tough February slate.
The Yellow Jackets have two remaining games in January, and both are against teams with losing records. The first of those two games is at 7 p.m. Wednesday at McCamish Pavilion against visiting Virginia Tech.
The Jackets (8-11, 2-6 ACC), who have lost four consecutive games, are scoring only 65.8 points per game during their current losing stretch. Some of that has been because of a shrinking lineup caused by mounting injuries. But that ineptitude on the offensive end has been equal parts turnovers and poor shooting as well.
“We gotta figure it out. We’ve been in games, and we’ve had our moments where we gotta win,” Tech coach Damon Stoudamire said. “We gotta become better mentally. The game isn’t all physical. You gotta become better mentally. I think we make a big deal out of certain things. Here’s the reality: You can play six, seven guys and win. You just gotta manage the game. But to manage the game, everybody has to manage the game. That means the players on the floor have to be thinking the same way.
“And when the game is on? We gotta quit making mistakes to put ourselves in a bad way, whether that’s a live-ball turnover, whether that’s shot selection at that time, whether that’s missing a defensive assignment.”
Stoudamire’s second season at the helm has gone a bit sideways this month. The Jackets were 8-7 overall and 2-2 in league play after a win over Boston College on Jan. 4. But they haven’t won since and have fallen into 15th place in the 18-team ACC.
Georgia Tech is only a half-game up in the standings from being on the outside looking in for qualifying for the league’s postseason tournament in March. Its next two games are against Virginia Tech and Notre Dame, teams who are a combined 16-20 overall and 5-9 against the conference.
“It’s an either make-shot, miss-shot business. And so if you can put yourself in position, anything can happen,” Stoudamire said. “When we’ve tended to lose our last couple games, you can look back to see certain sequences during the game that hurt us. And if we can just do a little bit better in those moments, we can win games. I believe we can win games.”
Virginia Tech will be playing only its fourth true road game of the season Wednesday. The Hokies (8-10, 3-4 ACC) have previously lost at Duke and Stanford and won at California.
Coach Mike Young’s team is the ACC’s worst in turnovers per game and near the bottom of the conference in scoring, defensive rebounds and fouling.
“We have to be really be locked in to play deep in possessions. Guard multiple actions. That’s who they are,” Stoudamire said. “They haven’t been as good on the road, and so we have to take advantage of that. We have to get off to a good start, to not only gain confidence, but to get our fans into the game. I think that’ll got a long ways.”
Mustaf to miss time
Tech freshman guard Jaeden Mustaf will be out for the next few weeks with an ankle injury.
Mustaf left in the second half of the Jan. 14 game against Clemson. Although he returned later in that contest, he missed the team’s game Saturday at Florida State. Stoudamire said Monday that Mustaf will be reevaluated in 2-4 weeks.
A 6-foot-5, 210-pound product of Overtime Elite, Mustaf has started seven of the 16 games he has played in for the Jackets. He also dealt with a hand injury at season’s outset.
Mustaf is averaging 9.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. He had a season-high 18 points against Maryland-Baltimore County on Nov. 30.
Tech also has continued to be without Kowacie Reeves (foot) and Luke O’Brien (toe). Freshman center Doryan Onwuchekwa has been away from the team for personal reasons since December.
“The one thing you’ll never hear from Damon Stoudamire is an excuse about injuries,” Stoudamire added Monday.
About the Author
