Adam Smith has big game for Georgia Tech against Wofford
This is more of what Georgia Tech expected when it signed graduate senior Adam Smith.
Smith, a transfer from Virginia Tech known for his perimeter ability, bounced back from his worst offensive game of the year to score 16 points and help Georgia Tech to a 77-61 win over Wofford.
Smith was 1-for-9 from the field in the previous game, a loss to Villanova, and scored only three points. On Tuesday, he scored his second-highest total of the season. Smith shot 4-for-5 on 3-pointers and was 6-for-9 from the floor in 23 minutes.
Georgia Tech (5-2) wound up shooting 45.3 percent from the floor, which is remarkable after the Yellow Jackets started by missing 12 of their first 13 attempts. The Yellow Jackets outrebounded the smaller Terriers 40-22 and scored 15 points on second-chance points.Wofford (2-4) got 14 points and five rebounds off the bench from Justin Gordon.
THREE WHO MATTERED
Smith: The graduate transfer emerged from a scoring slump and scored 16 points. He scored seven straight, including a 3-pointer, during a late stretch that gave the Yellow Jackets the lead in the first half.
Travis Jorgenson: The sophomore point guard scored a season-high eight points. Jorgenson shot 3-for-4 and made a pair of 3-pointers, but picked up just one assist.
Mitchell: The senior had 15 rebounds, three short of his season high of 18 recorded against Arkansas. Mitchell is averaging an ACC-best 12.8 rebounds. Twenty-nine of his 90 rebounds have come on the offensive end.
TURNING POINT
Georgia Tech scoredthe first five points of the second half to take a seven-point lead. The Yellow Jackets didn’treally put away the pesky Terriers until Quinton Stephens canned a 3-pointerwith 13:21 left to give them a 48-37 lead.
OBSERVATIONS
Baby it’s cold inside: Georgia Tech made only one of itsfirst 13 field goal tries and went 6:07 without scoring in the first half. TheYellow Jackets recovered to make nine of their final 16 to shoot a balmy 34.5percent in the half.
Just wondering: When was the last time Marcus Georges-Hunt failed to score a field goal? How about just once – last year’s game against North Carolina where he was injured three minutes into the game. The senior was 0-for-5 from the floor Tuesday, getting all five of his points from the free-throw line.
It’s Chucky Ducky: Mitchell bounced back from a slow start to collect his seventh straight double-double. The senior got his 10 point on a tip-in with 7:43 left in the game. He finished with 10 points, matching his lowest point total of the year.
Whistle blower’s delight: Wofford didn’t leave any fouls on the bus. Fouling in order to keep things close, the Terriers were called for 11 fouls in the first half and 15 in the second half. They had six players with at least three personals and one fouled out.
THEY SAID IT
Georgia Tech head coach Brian Gregory on the slowstart: “Our defense kind of held us in there a little bit early and we responded much better in the last 10minutes.”
Gregory on the strong second half: “The second half, as big as some of the wins we’ve had against Tennessee and Arkansas and played well in spurts against Villanova, I thought we played as well as we have all year, especially defensively. We did a lot of good things.”
Smith on the second-half defense: “We started the second half with a kill (three consecutive defensive stops) and that was a really good sign. We have so many offensive weapons that we know it’s going to come sooner or later. We’ve just got to get stops, get the rebound. We were finishing defensive possessions, as well.”
Wofford head coach Mike Young on Georgia Tech’s rebounding advantage: “They absolutely destroyed us in the second half. Brian’s playing good people. They’re averaging 14 or 16 offensive rebounds a night. They pose a lot of problems.”
UP NEXT
Georgia Tech travels to New Orleans to playTulane at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
This story was originally published December 1, 2015 at 10:00 PM with the headline "Adam Smith has big game for Georgia Tech against Wofford ."