James White paces Georgia Tech past Southeastern Louisiana

ATLANTA -- James White got his first start of the year for Georgia Tech and responded with a double-double to help the Yellow Jackets rebound from Saturday's disappointing performance against Georgia and beat Southeastern Louisiana 75-62 on Monday at McCamish Pavilion.

The 6-foot-8 graduate transfer from Arkansas-Little Rock played a season-high 22 minutes, matched his season high with 14 points and had a season high with 13 rebounds. His only other double-double came in the season opener against Cornell, when he had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

The Yellow Jackets used an 11-0 run, sparked by a pair of 3-pointers from Marcus Georges-Hunt and another from Adam Smith, to take a quick 11-2 lead. They never trailed again.

THREE WHO MATTERED

White: The graduate senior was 6-for-10 from the field and six of his 13 rebounds were on the offensive end. White again showed why he's considered the team's most athletic player, once grabbing a rebound and slamming it in the basket with a continuous motion.

Smith: The guard scored 16 points and has been in double-figures in four of the past five games. Smith hit four 3-pointers in the first half to help set the momentum.

Georges-Hunt: The guard was 4-for-10 from the field and scored 14 points, his fourth straight game in double-figures. He had two 3-pointers early to help Georgia Tech establish a lead it never relinquished.

TURNING POINT

After taking an 11-2 lead, the Yellow Jackets nearly frittered it away. They allowed Southeastern to sneak up to within a point on two occasions before answering with a 16-7 run to retake a 10-point lead. Unlike the quick start, which was predicated on some sharp perimeter shooting, Georgia Tech was able to assert itself when White and Nick Jacobs began taking the ball to the hole.

OBSERVATIONS

Changing it up: Georgia Tech changed its starting lineup for the first time this season. The Yellow Jackets started White at forward in place of senior Nick Jacobs, who had started the first 10 games. Other starters remained the same: point guard Josh Heath, guard Georges-Hunt, guard Smith and forward Charles Mitchell.

Cut my eye, Mick: Mitchell suffered a cut above his left eye during practice Sunday afternoon when taking an elbow to the head. He covered the injury with a bandage midway through the first half.

Controlling the boards: Georgia Tech outrebounded the Lions 43-29 and scored 19 second-chance points.

Homecoming for Capps: Southeastern Louisiana's Jordan Capps played high school basketball at Peachtree Ridge, where he teamed with Georgia Tech's Corey Heyward, and brought a nice cheering section. He started at Samford and transferred to Northwest Florida State, which won the national junior college championship last year, before signing with Southeastern. Capps got his second straight start and scored nine points.

THEY SAID IT

White on getting his first start: "He told me 30 minutes before tip. He said be ready, be aggressive."

Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory on lack of consistency on defense: "It's not where we need to be. They scored 34 points in the paint, and we've got to shore that up."

Gregory on the game: "We did a lot of good things, but unfortunately we weren't able to sustain that through long situations. We were not able to maintain the intensity."

Gregory on the Georgia Tech shooting 20 3-pointers: "Too many, probably."

UP NEXT

Georgia Tech plays again Wednesday at home against Colgate.

This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 10:03 PM with the headline "James White paces Georgia Tech past Southeastern Louisiana ."