Routed at Cincinnati, Georgia Tech rebounded with a wire-to-wire win over No. 21 Mississippi State at McCamish Pavilion on Tuesday.
Yes, the Yellow Jackets shot a lower percentage (34.4 percent) in an eight-point win than they did in a 35-point loss to the Bearcats (34.7 percent). But Damon Stoudamire saw his team play with an edge and will that had been lacking the week before.
“You need toughness on defense, but you also need toughness on offense – going to the hole, playing strong, being able to finish, being able to play through contact. I’m so proud of the fellas and the way they responded,” Tech’s head coach said in our postgame radio interview.
It’s that proof of concept that may give a young club like Georgia Tech (3-2, 0-0 ACC) the push it needs as the conference season begins. Toughness will not be optional in the ACC’s 20-game grind, which begins Saturday with another ranked opponent, No. 7 Duke (5-2, 0-0 ACC), visiting McCamish Pavilion.
Enjoy the top notes from my chart as the Jackets go for an upset over the preseason ACC favourites (2:15 p.m. ET, Legends Sports, Georgia Tech Sports Network):
In response to a text message, when was the last time Georgia Tech defeated a ranked opponent thus early in the season? Back on November 21, 2006, the Jackets defeated No. 11 Memphis, 92-85, at the Maui Invitational.
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Duke is a perennial (and justifiably so) blueblood in the ACC, but they’ve also been a little salty lately while playing Georgia Tech. Surprisingly, dating back to 2020-21, the Blue Devils are 1-4 in their past five games before playing Tech. This includes an 80-75 loss to Arkansas at Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday.
Spurning some first-round NBA Draft projections, 7-foot “stretch 5” Kyle Filipowski returns for his sophomore year and anchors the Blue Devils’ offense again. The ACC’s Preseason Player of the Year, Filipowski (19.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg) moves nimbly on slips, pick-and-pops, and relocations to the post. He can also dribble with either hand and is an adroit passer out of double teams.
Foul trouble handcuffed him against Arkansas (though he still finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds), but Filipowski creates constant mismatches and broken floors with his length, mobility and shot-making. Senior guard Jeremy Roach (13.0 ppg) is Duke’s best attacker off the dribble who has shown an improved touch from deep, while sophomore point guard Tyrese Proctor (11.7 ppg) has a nearly 5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio and maneuvers around screens well.
The Blue Devils haven’t hammered the offensive boards quite as hard as they have in years past – after finishing ninth in the nation in offensive rebounding percentage a year ago, they rank 210th as of Thursday (28.5 percent) – but Tech can’t get worn down by Duke’s length when chasing rebounds and 50-50 balls. The Jackets did a good job staying in gaps and playing “help the helper” defense against Mississippi State. That’ll need to continue against a Duke team that’ll be looking to rediscover its rhythm following a choppy offensive night in Fayetteville.
Walk-on Tyrese Proctor, Duke’s preseason All-ACC combo guard and Sydney native, can get a scouting report from Emmer Nichols in both hemispheres.
Nichols, from Woodside, California, spent the second semester of his junior year of high school in Australia. Emmer has dual citizenship because his father is Australian, and with high school athletics cancelled in California for the year, the family relocated to Australia for in-person schooling and to be closer to his father’s family. In the third-place game of the U18 national championships, Nichols’ Australian Capital Territory side defeated Proctor’s New South Wales Metro team. Nichols, a 6-foot-6 defensive end, was assigned to Proctor.
Miles Kelly only had one instance last year where he failed to make a three-pointer in back-to-back games.
In the next two games, he went a combined 8-for-13 from deep.
So Kelly had no reason to feel flustered when he entered Tuesday’s matchup having shot 0-for-9 from three in losses to UMass Lowell and Cincinnati. Right on cue, the junior made 4-of-9 threes (against an MSU team that ranked 12th in the country in 3-point percentage defense) to pace Tech to the win.
Kelly’s shooting numbers will continue to straighten out, but don’t overlook his revitalized rebounding either. Last year, Kelly had 10 offensive rebounds in 1,069 minutes of floor time.
He grabbed his 10th offensive rebound by his 95th minute of the season against UMass Lowell.
Miles Kelly – # of minutes to get 10 OR
- Last year: 1,069
- This year: 95
Duke could sic 6-foot-9 Mark Mitchell, considered their top man-to-man defender, on Kelly with his agility and wingspan. The Blue Devils aren’t above reaching and swiping on the perimeter, but they prefer to stay home and use their length to clog the halfcourt. Among the keys for Tech Saturday: move and cut with pace, engage two defenders, make the “one more” passes, and shoot with conviction.
Jon Scheyer had a reputation as a long-range specialist at Duke, averaging 38 percent from three-point range over his four-year career.
His lowest career percentage against an ACC opponent? Georgia Tech (12 of 48, 25.0%).
Now that we’re prepared, we hope you are as well. Join us for pregame coverage starting at 1:45 p.m. ET on the Georgia Tech Sports Network from Legends Sports. See you at McCamish.
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