Tadric Jackson stepping up his game for Georgia Tech

ATLANTA -- During the past two games, Georgia Tech sophomore Tadric Jackson has produced the sort of results that the basketball team is going to need down the stretch.

The 6-foot-2 guard is starting to show why he was named Georgia's Mr. Basketball when his high school career ended. For the first time, 53 games into his college career, the Tift County product has put together back-to-back games with double-figure points. Part of it is maturity and part of it is being able to adapt, but the results are definitely a good sign.

"It takes time for guys to really understand what they need to do," Georgia Tech head coach Brian Gregory said. "Instead of letting the jump shot create other things, in this league you emphasize being able to attack the basket and making plays off the dribble. With our post presence and with our quality shooters around, there are driving opportunities. He's done a good job with that."

Jackson will go for three straight quality efforts tonight when Georgia Tech hosts Wake Forest on Wednesday. The Yellow Jackets (12-11, 2-8 ACC) will be trying to end a three-game losing streak against a Wake Forest team (10-13, 1-10) team that has lost eight straight.

Jackson scored 15 points against Duke and had 13 against Miami and raised his average nearly a point to 5.4. He had gone 11 games without hitting double-digits and twice went scoreless during that stretch.

Lately he has been more aggressive in taking the ball to the basket instead of settling for the 3-pointer. He was 11-for-22 from the field in the past two games and broke a three-game stretch without a 3-pointer by knocking down a pair against Miami.

"He's a little more comfortable, he's making better decisions with the ball, and he's being a little more aggressive," Gregory said. "He's defending much better, which puts him on the court more and he's taken advantage of it."

Now Jackson needs to improve his free-throw shooting. He's only shooting 59.1 percent from the line and was 1-for-4 against Miami.

Wake Forest has struggled against a tough schedule, and the Demon Deacons have struggled to stay close against conference opponents. In its 10 ACC losses, Wake Forest has lost by an average of 14.1 points and is coming off a 91-71 loss to Florida State. Conversely, Georgia Tech has lost its ACC games by an average of 5.8 points and none by double-digits.

The Demon Deacons are led by seniors Devin Thomas, who averages 16 points and 9.9 rebounds, and Codi Miller-McIntyre, who averages 7.5 points. Thomas had 17 points and 14 rebounds in the first meeting between the teams last year and is the ACC's active leader with 32 career double-doubles. Freshman Bryant Crawford averages 13.5 and leads ACC freshmen with 92 assists.

"They've got two of the premier upperclassmen in the league," Gregory said. "It's going to be a tough game. We have to do a lot of good things and be able to do them over 40 minutes to be successful."

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 5:16 PM with the headline "Tadric Jackson stepping up his game for Georgia Tech ."