Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs. Georgia Tech
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After taking down Wake Forest in their first game out of a COVID pause, the Louisville men’s basketball program is heading back on the road, taking on Georgia Tech for their first game of the new year.
Here are a few of the more significant storylines to follow ahead of the Cardinals' matchup against the Yellow Jackets:
Continuing COVID Complications
Both Louisville and Georgia Tech might be out of their respective COVID pauses, but the virus will still have an impact on their upcoming matchup.
On top of having to continue to get their conditioning back up, both programs will not have their full compliment of players available. Louisville head coach Chris Mack stated that he "doesn't expect to have Mason Faulkner", and Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner said that "not everyone will be able to play."
Rough Start
One year removed from winning the ACC Championship, Georgia Tech has gotten off to an inauspicious start this season. After opening up the season with a bad home loss to Miami of Ohio, the Yellow Jackets then fires off a five-game winning streak to seemingly get back in the right direction.
But since the calendar flipped to December, the wheels have all but fallen off for Georgia Tech. They followed up their five-game winning streak with a four-game losing streak - all against top 50 NET Power Five opponents - where their average margin of defeat was 12.8 points. Even their most recent game against Georgia State required overtime to win.
In fact, when you break down Georgia Tech's schedule, they have yet to win a game against an opponent that currently sports a winning record. Their best win of the year up to this point over Georgia in Athens, but the Bulldogs are 5-8 on the season with head coach Tom Crean firmly on the hot seat.
Thunder and Lightning
As much as Georgia Tech has struggled this season, they still feature one of the most dynamic scorers not only in the ACC, but in Division I.
Senior guard Michael Devoe averages 21.0 points per game, which is good for 10th in the nation and the top of the conference. He's only had one game where he's scored in single figures (8 vs. Georgia State), and also has a pair of 30-point performances on the year (37 at Georgia, 33 vs. Wisconsin). On top of shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 45.9 percent on three point attempts, he also leads the Jackets in assists per game with 3.4 and also hauls in 5.2 rebounds per game.
But the scoring the doesn't solely rest on Devoe's shoulders. Senior forward Jordan Usher has developed into a really good secondary option, putting up 14.9 points per game and a team-best 7.2 rebounds.
However, outside of those two, Georgia Tech doesn't get much meaningful production. In fact, Devoe and Usher comprise of 51.9 percent of the Yellow Jackets' points and 57.5 percent of their made three-pointers.
Schrödinger's Three Pointer
Speaking of three pointers, if there is a way where Georgia Tech comes out victorious, it will be because of the Yellow Jackets' propensity to shoot from beyond the arc.
Tech currently shoots at a 37.4 percent clip from outside the perimeter, which ranks 43rd in D1 and fifth in the ACC. On top of Devoe and Usher's prowess on threes, Dallan Coleman also hits them at a high caliber, shooting 55.6 percent on the season.
But the issue is that Georgia Tech doesn't actually shoot a lot of threes. According to KenPom, just 28.8 percent of their total field goal attempts are three-pointers, which is 239th in D1 and bottom five in the ACC.
In fact, there are just three games all season where they have attempted 20 or more long balls. While Tech has the ability to rain threes all day, it completely goes against their play style.
(Photo of Dre Davis: Michael Clevenger - Courier Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
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