Heel Tough Blog: Georgia Tech Preview

@UNCMBBStats

After having a week off, the Tar Heels return to action this afternoon, in Atlanta, against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Carolina last played last Saturday and won at Virginia, erasing a 16-point deficit in the process, to reinstate belief in this team. The win at Virginia not only dramatically changed Carolina’s chances to compete to finish top four in the ACC, but it also moved Carolina’s projected seed line in the NCAA Tournament as well. 

Georgia Tech enters today’s game with an 11-10 record overall, with a 2-6 showing in ACC play. While their conference record isn’t anything to brag about, they have been very competitive at times, taking Duke down to the wire in Cameron Indoor Stadium and winning on the road at NC State. They’ve been very good at home, posting a 10-4 record, although they have just one win at home in league play. They do have three players who average double figures in scoring, led by arguably the most underrated player in the league, Kowacie Reeves, and his 15.9 points per game. Lamar Washington (11.7), and Baye Ndongo (11.5), are the others who average double figures for the Yellow Jackets. In addition to that, the Yellow Jackets do rank inside the top-5 in the ACC in rebounds and blocks. 

It’s the final day of January, which means the race to the end of the regular season starts now, with 11 games left to play for Carolina. They enter today’s action 6th in the ACC standings, with games against Duke, Clemson, NC State, Miami, still to come to determine who will all secure the all-important double bye for the ACC Tournament. But as Hubert Davis expressed yesterday in his press conference, they have to take this one game at a time, and if they play the way they are capable of playing, they can create lifelong memories over the next two months. 

The last time the Tar Heels were in Atlanta, they lost after blowing an 11-point lead, in a game that came before the first Duke game of that season. Carolina still has Syracuse to play next Monday before hosting the Blue Devils, but make no mistake about it, if the Tar Heels bring the effort they brought in the first half last week, or during the West Coast road trip, Georgia Tech is good enough to make things interesting into the second half. Here’s how Carolina can avoid getting upset on the road later today: 

1. Be Ready to Fight: When Carolina was down 16 to Virginia, it was because they weren’t meeting the fight that the Cavaliers brought into the game, beating Carolina to every loose ball, and doing all the little things necessary to win a game. Once Carolina put on their boxing gloves, it was a different result. If there’s anything you need to know about Georgia Tech, it is that they are coached to be tough and will look to be as physical as possible with the opponent. Carolina is obviously the more gifted team between the two, but talent also needs to be met with effort and intensity. If they show up, not prepared to box out, or run back on defense, or call out a screen, then they’ll find themselves in a tougher game than most expect today’s contest to be. 

2. Get Veesaar Involved: Henri Veesaar is coming off arguably his worst game as a Tar Heel at Virginia, where he struggled with foul trouble and wasn’t a presence on the backboards. Hubert Davis addressed some conversations he had with Veesaar in the last week, making it known that last week wasn’t going to be the norm moving forward. Expect UNC to run some early action for Veesaar to get him involved early in the game, mainly with the pick and pop three, and a downhill ball-screen, which gets him running to the rim. 

3. Control the Glass: On paper, UNC averages just one more rebound per game than Georgia Tech, but hopefully, they win that area of the game by a larger margin this afternoon. Pace is always determined by who rebounds the ball the best, and if that happens to be Georgia Tech, today’s game will be played even slower than the normal tempo this UNC team is currently playing at. Finishing possessions has been a big talking point in the last week, after allowing a combined 34 offensive rebounds to Notre Dame and Virginia last week. Hubert Davis continues to tell his team that it has to be a team effort on the glass and just rely on Caleb Wilson or Henri Veesaar to grab every rebound. 

Series History:

• Carolina is 73-28 all-time against Georgia Tech, having won 4 of the last 5 matchups. Atlanta has been tricky, though, as UNC is just 23-16 on the road, and 17-14 in McAmish Pavilion. 

KenPom:

• North Carolina - 29th overall. Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 123.1 (20th) Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 102.1 (57th) 

• Georgia Tech: 130th overall. Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 108.0 (195th) Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 104.6 (85th) 

NET: 

• North Carolina - 26th. 

• Georgia Tech - 141st. 

TV Info: 

• Today’s game will begin at 2 PM on the ACC Network. 

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