Gameday Live Blog/Open Thread: Fighting Irish @ Yellow Jackets | Game 17
Good afternoon from McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta, GA, where the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8-8, 3-3 ACC) find themselves for the week after playing 6 of their last 7 games away from home court. Another quality ACC opponent awaits them, as they are preparing to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-6, 1-4 ACC).
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Tipoff is set for 8:30pm, and you can catch the game on the ACC Network.
PREGAME/PREVIEW
Ahead of today's tipoff, be sure to check out our preview of the Fighting Irish and other related readings:
What To Watch For Vs. Notre Dame
Tale of The Tape: Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Watch: Head Coach Josh Pastner Preview Notre Dame
Alvarado: "This is the most important part of the season"
5 Questions For Irish Maven's Bryan Driskell
Probable Starters:
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
G Jose Alvarado
G Michael Devoe
F Jordan Usher
F Moses Wright
C James Banks III
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
G Prentiss Hubb
G TJ Gibbs
G Rex Pflueger
F Juwan Durham
F John Mooney
FIRST HALF:
15:34: Not exactly the most efficient basketball being played by either team to start the game. Notre Dame is just 1-8 from the field while the Jackets opened up 0-3. However Tech has connected on their last 3 shots to take a 7-4 lead at the first media timeout. A normally good 3 shooting team, Notre Dame is 0-4 from beyond the arc to start the game. What is holding Tech from having a bigger lead is the fact that they have 3 turnovers in 8 possessions.
12:33: Notre Dame finally connects from deep, is now 1-6.
10:57: Both teams are playing very stour defense and preventing the other from getting clean looks at the basket. Both has 16 attempts, but Tech has only 6 field goals while Notre Dame has 5 and each have a 3 point bucket. However 3 free throws give the Irish a 14-13 edge so far in the game.
6:32: Offensive is starting to stagnate a bit for the Jackets, while it's beginning to heat up for the Irish. Notre Dame has made 3 of their last 5 attempts from downtown, while Tech has hit just 3 of their last 13 from the field.
3:15: Tech is starting to find their stroke. They've hit 4 of their last 6 and are on a 7 point run while keeping the Irish scoreless in the last 3:18. Game is tied at 24 a piece.
1:01: ND has hit just 1 of their last 7 shots and Tech has not had a field goal in 2:48. Offense is operating at a snail's pace as of late.
HALF: Notre Dame 29, Georgia Tech 27.
Stats at the Half:
SECOND HALF:
19:23: Jordan Usher throws down a thunderous dunk after stickling his hand in the Notre Dame passing lane.
14:59: Both sides are playing with more electricity in the opening minutes of this half, with 3 of the 6 field goals from both teams combined have been dunks. Both teams still shooting under 40% for the game though.
11:54: While Notre Dame's rebounding is allowing them to continue possessions, they are having trouble connecting on shots in the second half. The Irish are just 4-16 from the field since the second half started and have missed their last 5 shots. Meanwhile Michael Devoe is starting to heat up, as he leads all scorers with 13 including a 3 to take a 40-38 lead.
7:37: Both teams have all of a sudden started generating offense. ND has connected with their last 5 shots while GT has connected with their last 6. In this half alone, the Jackets are shooting 10-15 while holding ND to 9-21. However the Irish are winning the rebounding battle 10-6. GT holds a slim 51-50 lead.
5:39: Both teams have hit 7 of their last 8 shots. Michael Devoe leads all scorers with 16.
3:37: At this rate, it seems that whoever has the ball last will win this game. Georgia Tech has hit 10 of their last 12 and Notre Dame is 9 for their last 11. Tech continues to be shooting at a high caliber in the second half, going 14-21 form the field. Thankfully their defense has not allowed the Irish to shoot at the same level (13-27), since ND has a 13-8 second half rebounding advantage.
1:37: Jose Alvarado got hammered as Notre Dame was driving to the rim, but no foul called. ND takes a 67-64 lead.
FINAL: Notre Dame 78, Georgia Tech 74.
Final Stats:
