Instant Takeaways From Georgia Tech's Exhibition Loss to Providence

College Basketball season is right around the corner, and it is the debut season for Scott Cross at Georgia Tech. Cross is hoping to begin the turnaround for the Yellow Jackets and get them back to contending in the ACC and for NCAA Tournament spots.

Ahead of the regular season opener, Georgia Tech played an exhibition game today against Providence and it did not go very well for the Yellow Jackets. The Friars ended up beating the Yellow Jackets 101-73.

What are the biggest takeaways from today's disappointing performance?

1. First-Half struggles

It was not a complete wipeout for the Yellow Jackets in the first half against the Friars, but it was not a very inspiring start to the game. Nothing was really going right for the offense, as they were shooting just 35% from the floor, 31% from deep, and only 1-for-6 at the free-throw line. Not only that, but they had 10 turnovers and lost the rebounding battle 23-15.

Colby Garland led the way for Georgia Tech, scoring seven points on 3-for-3 shooting. Nasir Whitlock had four points, and Tylis Jordan had five points. Nobody really separated themselves and has become the go-to scorer yet and that is arguably my biggest concern heading into the season.

Providence is a solid team, but Georgia Tech needs to find ways to get off to better starts once the season begins.

2. Turnovers were killer

A lot of things went wrong today for Georgia Tech, but turnovers were the most disappointing thing to me.

It wasn't just that Georgia Tech turned it over 17 times, they let Providence score 23 points off those turnovers. The Yellow Jackets were able to force 13 turnovers of their own, but only scored six points.

Georgia Tech has to rely on ball security and discipline in a lot of games this season. They are not talented enough to lose the possession battle like that and expect to be out of the basement of the ACC.

3. Kam Craft had a stellard day shooting the ball

Probably the best player on the court today for the Yellow Jackets, veteran sharp-shooter Kam Craft had a really strong day, scoring 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting from deep in 31 minutes. Craft is going to be relied upon as a veteran option on that end of the floor and today was at least a good sign from a shooting perspective.

4. Free throw shooting was a disaster

The shooting percentages were not all that different, though the Friars took seven more shots than Georgia Tech. Where there was a big discrepancy was the free throw shooting.

Like I said earlier about the turnovers, Georgia Tech has to win at the margins if they hope to be successful this season and they did not do that today. They were 6-for-15 from the line, missing out on nine extra points. Shooting poorly from the free throw line and giving the ball away via turnovers is a quick recipe to lose for this team.

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