Hoops Preview: No. 15 Notre Dame at Georgia Tech

No. 15 Notre Dame (17-4, 6-2) at Georgia Tech (12-8, 4-4)

Date: January 28
Where: McCamish Pavilion, Atlanta, Ga.
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
TV: ESPNU

Quick Facts

- Saturday will be the 15th meeting between the two programs.
- Georgia Tech leads the all-time series 8-6.
- Notre Dame has won 4 of the last 6 games against the Yellow Jackets in ACC plays.
- The Irish lost 63-62 last year at Georgia Tech.

The Starters

(Per Game Averages)
Notre Dame
Matt Farrell: 14.0 PPG, 2.2 RPG and 5.7 APG
Steve Vasturia: 14.9 PPG, 3.6 RPG and 3.2 APG
VJ Beachem: 14.1 PPG, 4.0 and 1.1 APG
Bonzie Colson: 15.6 PPG, 10.5 RPG and 1.8 APG
Martinas Geben: 4.1 PPG, 4.5 RPG and 0.9 APG

Georgia Tech
Josh Heath: 5.6 PPG, 2.0 RPG and 3.8 APG
Josh Okogie: 15.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG and 1.7 APG
Corey Heyward: 2.5 PPG, 2.0 RPG and 1.1 APG
Quinton Stephens: 10.9 PPG, 8.1 RPG and 2.1 APG
Ben Lammers: 14.7 PPG, 9.7 RPG and 2.1 APG

How They Matchup

(National Rank)
Scoring Offense: Georgia Tech: 67.4 PPG (293) – Notre Dame: 79.9 PPG (51)
Scoring Defense: Georgia Tech: 66.9 PPG (60) – Notre Dame: 67.6 (74)
Rebound Margin: Georgia Tech: 0.7 (177) – Notre Dame: 0.8 (172)
Field-Goal Percentage: Georgia Tech: 43.0% (242) – Notre Dame: 46.9% (68)
Three-Point Percentage: Georgia Tech: 35.4% (163) – Notre Dame: 40.1% (14)
Three-Pointers Made: Georgia Tech: 4.3 (343) – Notre Dame: 9.7 (20)
Free-Throw Percentage: Georgia Tech: 68.6% - Notre Dame: 82.0% (1)

Notre Dame will travel to Atlanta and try to rebound from Tuesday’s disappointing loss to Virginia. The Irish defense will have its hands full with freshman Josh Okogie, who dropped 35 points, 14 rebounds and five assists in a 78-56 win against No. 6 Florida State on Wednesday.

Outside of Okgoie, the Yellow Jackets are a team that doesn’t have much in common with Notre Dame. Georgia Tech doesn’t shoot many three-pointers and doesn’t make very many, so if Notre Dame can get hot from beyond the arc, it could very well be the difference in the game.

The Irish will need hit the defensive glass pretty hard, as the Jackets will look to capitalize on second chance points, as they score from the paint. Limiting second chance opportunities always helps, but against a team that is only scoring 67 points a night, it’s even bigger.

Notre Dame should look to work in transition on the offensive end. The Irish only scored two fast break points on Tuesday and should be able to run on Georgia Tech.

This isn’t a cake walk, as Georgia Tech ahs already beaten North Carolina and Florida State at home, so Notre Dame will need to bring its a-game on Saturday.