Scoring help on the way for Ga. Tech basketball
Help is on the way for the Georgia Tech offense.
The Yellow Jackets have been without two suspended players for the first games, but they’ll get guard Tadric Jackson back this week, and that should help boost the scoring options for coach Josh Pastner.
Two teams from the Longhorn State visit McCamish Pavilion this week. The Yellow Jackets host Texas-Rio Grande Valley at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and North Texas at 4 p.m. Friday.
Jackson, serving a three-game NCAA suspension for accepting nonauthorized goodies, will be eligible to come back for the North Texas game.
“Bottom line is, until we get Tadric and Josh (Okogie) back, we’re going to be relying on our young guys,” Pastner said. “It’s just going to be a grind for us.”
Despite his inconsistencies, Jackson is a legitimate scoring threat, and his return will be welcomed. He averaged 12.1 points last season, third best on the team, and scored 20-plus points in six games.
Jackson’s problem has been consistency. For example, he scored 29 points against Boston College, but followed that with nine against Miami. He scored 20 at Notre Dame, but scored just four in the next game against Pitt.
“Tadric last year was kind of high and low,” Pastner said. “We were lucky we got the game at home against B.C. Part of it was because Tadric was really good in the second half. The game before he was not good, and the game after that he wasn’t good, but against B.C. he was really good.”
Jackson grew more reliable toward the end of the season. He scored in double figures in six of the last seven games, including 19 in the NIT against both Indiana and TCU.
“He’s been up and down,” Pastner said. “We need him to be consistently tough, ... being mentally tough, meaning he’s just going to be good — night in, night out.”
Okogie isn’t eligible to return from his NCAA suspension until the Dec. 3 game against Tennessee. The bone in his dislocated index figure on his left hand has healed, but doctors needed to take care of an infection that had set it. The wound was given a fresh dressing, and Okogie has been had the arm in a sling. The doctors are waiting for the skin to heal around the injury before giving Okogie clearance to return.
The Yellow Jackets have had to rely heavily on Ben Lammers, who is averaging 21.5 points and 11 rebounds. Lammers played 38 minutes on Sunday against Bethune-Cookman.
Guard Jose Alvardo, a freshman point guard from Brooklyn, has taken advantage of his opportunity to play — he logged 38 minutes against Bethune-Cookman — and has become the team’s No. 2 scorer. He scored 18 against Bethune-Cookman and plays with boundless energy.
Texas-Rio Grande Valley (3-2) scored a 75-63 win over North Texas (2-2) on Monday night. Those two teams, along with Bethune-Cookman and Grambling, are part of the Ramblin’ Wreck Showcase. The format allows those teams to play each other, but count them as only one game for scheduling purposes.
Texas-Rio Grande Valley (previously known as Texas-Pan American) was 10-22 last year and finished seventh in the Western Athletic Conference. Second-year coach Lew Hill returns guard Nick Dixon, who averaged 18.8 points and 5.1 rebounds last season for the Vaqueros. Dixon is averaging 23.4 points through five games.
North Texas is coming off an 8-22 season and a 14th place finish in Conference USA. Coach Grant McCasland is in his first season as coach. The Mean Green is led by guard Ryan Woolridge, who averages 17.8 points and 5.3 rebounds.
This story was originally published November 21, 2017 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Scoring help on the way for Ga. Tech basketball."