What To Watch For Vs. North Carolina

The contest against UNC wraps up a 5 game road trip.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (6-7, 1-2 ACC) are set to wrap up their 5 game road trip, but unfortunately for them it's not getting any easier. After opening up the main slate of conference games with a 70-58 loss at Florida State, the Jackets are onto their next ACC foe. They'll be facing the North Carolina Tar Heels (8-5, 1-1 ACC) at the Dean Smith Center this Saturday, January 4th. Tip is set for 6:00pm and can be viewed on the ACC Network.

Here are a couple of the more significant storylines to follow ahead of Tech's 95th all-time matchup with the Tar Heels:

Cole Anthony Still Out

Like Georgia Tech for a majority of the early part of the season, the Tar Heels are also without their best player on the court. Back on December 17th, freshman guard Cole Anthony underwent an arthroscopic procedure to repair a partially torn meniscus in his right knee. So far in 9 games, he has averaged 19.1 points (3rd in ACC), 6.3 rebounds (3rd on team) and 3.4 assists (15th in ACC).

At the time of the surgery he was expected to miss 4-6 weeks, which would effectively rule out an appearance against the Yellow Jackets. The lack of his presence has clearly made a difference for UNC, as they are 2-2 without him including a 68-64 loss to Wofford.

Shooting Woes

Prior to winning a pair of games against UCLA & Yale, North Carolina had dropped 4 in a row to Ohio State, Virginia, Wofford and Gonzaga. During that stretch, the Tar Heels shot just 36.8% from the field. In fact, as a whole on the season UNC is shooting just 40.1% which is dead last in the ACC and 318th in Division I. Out of the 10 players on UNC's roster averaging double digit minutes per game this season, just 3 of them are shooting over 40% (Anthony Harris - 54.5%, Garrison Brooks - 53.4%, Armando Bacot - 47.5%).

When it comes to the perimeter, just two of the 7 players with double digit three point attempts are shooting over 30% (Cole Anthony - 35.5%, Brandon Robinson - 32.1%). Although shooting threes aren't exactly a staple of UNC's offense, as they consist of just 29.9% of their total field goal attempts (320th in D1) and oddly enough are connecting on the same percentage (302nd in D1).

Twin Towers

If there is one facet of their game where the Tar Heels excel, it is unquestionably at hauling in rebounds. Not only are they number 1 in the ACC in both offensive rebounds (14.38) and defensive rebounds (30.46) per game, they are also the Division I leader in total rebounds per game (44.85).

The biggest reason for their dominance on the glass is due to the play of both junior forward Garrison Brooks and freshman forward Armando Bacot. Brooks and Bacot are both averaging over 8 boards per game, and are the highest rebounding duo in the ACC. If Georgia Tech has any hopes of going toe-to-toe with Brooks & Bacot, Moses Wright will have to continue his recent play and James Banks III will have to break his recent relative slump.

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