Virginia vs Georgia Tech Preview
The 13th ranked Virginia Cavaliers head to Atlanta on Saturday to take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:00 PM Eastern, televised on ACC Network.
About Georgia Tech
Head Coach Josh Pastner has a fairly inexperienced team. They only return 44% of their scoring from last season. There are new faces in the rotation. Mostly young players stepping up to fill the void, but also a pair of transfer portal additions.
The Yellow Jackets enter with a 7-5 overall record, 0-2 in ACC play. They’re 1-5 against high-major competition, with the lone win coming against Georgia. It’ll be 10 days between games. Clemson knocked them off last time out, 79-66 in Atlanta. They’re ranked 138th by the NCAA’s NET formula, making this a Quad-3 game for UVA as things stand.
Georgia Tech's Personnel
Pastner is still figuring his starting lineup out. Nine different players have made starts so far, and none of them have started every game. .
Kyle Sturdivant 6’2 Sr PG. (7.1 PPG). Their most experienced player has always been a solid role guy. .
Miles Kelly 6’5 So G (13.6 PPG). Ultra confident scorer has become their go-to man as a Soph. Top three-point shooter in the rotation too, at 38%.
Deebo Coleman 6’6 So G (9.7 PPG) Does most of his damage from behind the arc, career 39%. Will slide down as a small-ball 4 some in a four-guard lineup.
Jalon Moore 6’7 So F (10.1 PPG). Athletic 4-man has scored in double-figures in seven straight since being inserted into the starting lineup. Dangerous on the offensive glass.
Javon Franklin 6’7 Sr. PF (8.2 PPG). South Alabama transfer was starting until getting banged up against UNC. Leading shot blocker at 2.0 per.
Rodney Howard 6’11 Sr.C (5.7 PPG). Physical blue-collar big man.is the only real center in the rotation, has started recently.
Deivon Smith 6’1 Jr. PG (8.1 PPG). Freak athlete is hard to keep out of the paint, but doesn’t shoot well.
Lance Terry 6’2 Sr. G (7.1 PPG). Gardner-Webb transfer is a shooter who hasn’t shot as well as expected so far, 32% from three.
Tristan Maxwell 6’2 Jr.G (3.5 PPG). Vernon’s son started the last two games. Hit five triples against Alabama State, but has only shot 28% from the field over his career.
Notes
-Jayden Gardner went off in UVA’s win over GT last season, scoring his ACC career-high 26 points.
-Pastner’s teams always switch defenses a lot. We’ll see different zone looks,, a 1-3-1 and some 2-3.
-GT is holding opponents to 26.3% on three-point attempts, 7th best in the country. And that’s not unusual. Teams have shot under 30% against them in two of the previous four years.
-GT has used their 4-guard lineup for an average of 10 minutes through two ACC games.
-UVA has won nine straight in this series. GT’s last win was in 2016.
(Featured Image Credit: Matt Riley/UVA Athletics)