The No.1-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks (25-8) and No.4-seeded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (20-14) square off in the second round of the NIT tournament at Colonial Life Arena. The game gets underway at 9:00 pm ET on Monday, Mar. 21 and will air on ESP and ES3.
The Gamecocks come into this game on a high note after thoroughly outplaying High Point 88-66 in the 1. Laimonas Chatkevicius led all scorers with 30 points on 15-for-16 shooting. The Yellow Jackets, meanwhile, are coming off an 81-62 win over Houston in the 1. Marcus Georges-Hunt had a good game for Georgia Tech, registering 19 points, five assists, and four rebounds.
Sindarius Thornwell has been playing at a high level recently for the Gamecocks, averaging 18.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.6 steals, 1.0 block, and 2.4 three-pointers over the last five games.
Baskets could be hard to come by as South Carolina ranks third in the nation, allowing just 96.7 points per 100 possessions, while Georgia Tech is 21st (105.8). Also, the Yellow Jackets commit the 11th-fewest errors in the nation (TO% of 16.8%), while the disruptive defense of the Gamecocks causes the most (opponents’ TO% of 21.0%).
The Gamecocks come into this game 25-8 Straight Up (SU) and 20-10 Against The Spread (ATS). Teams have to fight for open shots against the Gamecocks, who have one of the best opponent field-goal percentages in the country at .394.
Over on the other bench, Georgia Tech has a SU record of 20-14 and an ATS record of 18-13-1. Georgia Tech’s defense is one of the top in the nation, with opponents shooting only .442 from the field.
South Carolina and Georgia Tech have not played one another in a regular season matchup in recent years.
Predictions: SU Winner – SC, ATS Winner – SC
Notes
“South Carolina is 17-8 SU in its last 25 games “.
“The total has gone UNDER in 6 of South Carolina’s last 8 games “.
“South Carolina is 6-3 ATS in its last 9 games at home”.
“South Carolina is 21-3 SU in its last 24 games at home”.
In its last game, Georgia Tech won by a margin of 19 points. South Carolina is 7-2 in games decided by a margin of 18 points or more. Georgia Tech has a 3-1 record in blowouts.
The South Carolina Gamecocks have the best defense in the country, giving up just 96.7 points per 100 possessions. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets rank 71st in offense, scoring 110.7 points in the same number of possessions.
Georgia Tech has an average field goal percentage of 44.7%. South Carolina is a winning 5-3 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The South Carolina Gamecocks and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets both rank higher in average field goal percentage when compared to their effective field goal percentages. South Carolina is 245th and 211th in the nation for eFG% and FG% respectively, while Georgia Tech ranks 204th and 139th in these categories.
Georgia Tech ranks 82nd in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.22. South Carolina is ranked lower at 218th with an A/TO of .99.
South Carolina, the 14th-ranked team in rebounding, registers an average of 40.9 rebounds per game. Georgia Tech ranks 49th with 39.0.
When it comes to offensive rebounds, Georgia Tech ranks 24th. South Carolina ranks 77th in defensive rebounds.
On average, Georgia Tech forces a turnover rate of 14.9%, ranked 24th in the nation. When South Carolina turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a winning 19-7 record.
