Georgia Tech looks to leave turnover woes behind as it hits the road against Louisville
The dirtiest word in the Georgia Tech basketball dictionary doesn’t have four words. It has eight: turnover.
That despicable noun has caused many of the team’s problems this season and has been particularly odorous in losing the last two home games. Georgia Tech had 13 turnovers in a four-point loss to Notre Dame and 19 turnovers in a five-point loss to Virginia. Both of those game could have gone the other way with a little more ball security.
“That’s been an Achilles heel of ours all year,” coach Josh Pastner said. “And we have to be better about it. It’s something we spend a lot of time on, but it’s bit us in the rear many times.”
The statistics tell the story. Georgia Tech averages 16.8 turnovers per game. That’s last in the 15-team Atlantic Coast Conference and 316th among the 352 teams that play Division I basketball. That’s up from 14.3 last season.
Georgia Tech is 14th in the ACC in turnover margin. Its minus-1.50 per-game margin is better only than Wake Forest (2.29 per game).
“Bottom line (against Virginia) is we had 18 turnovers (actually 19), 13 in the first half,” Pastner said. “We got down 14, it was sort of like the Duke game, we got down and then we came roaring back. That’s the difference — and they had 11 offensive rebounds, they had 29 extra possessions in a sense.”
The turnover problem has been helped by the return of point guard Jose Alvarado. The junior is a stabilizing force on the court, is a better decision-maker and helps the team get into an offensive rhythm.
Georgia Tech committed an average of 18.6 turnovers in the seven games that Alvarado missed, but only 15.6 in the 11 games he has played. That’s three additional possessions, a potential of as many as nine extra points.
Alvarado takes it personally when the team loses.
“We had 17 turnovers (against Duke) and I had four,” he said. “I need to be more focused on taking care of the ball. I take responsibility for that.”
Georgia Tech will try to break a three-game losing streak in a difficult place when it travels to play No. 5 Louisville on Wednesday. The Cardinals (15-3, 5-1 ACC) currently share first place in the ACC and have won four in a row. Louisville spent two weeks ranked No. 1 earlier this season.
The Yellow Jackets have not beaten Louisville in the six games since the Cardinals joined the ACC. In last year’s meeting, Louisville drubbed the Yellow Jackets 79-51, a game they played without Alvarado (injury) and two other important players. A win would also be Georgia Tech’s first over a top-25 team on the road since 2016 and the first road win over a top-10 team since 2014.
“I understand we’re in the business where there is a scoreboard,” Pastner said. “That’s what makes sports great, there’s a winner and a loser and the competitive nature of wanting to win every game. I know our record is not good, but we’re better than our record. From my chair, we’re better than we’ve been and we’ve had lot of close losses this year.”