A pair of scuffling teams will look to put their losing streaks to bed on Wednesday, when the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets host the Charleston Southern Buccaneers in Atlanta, Ga.
Georgia Tech (2-3) is playing its sixth of a seven-game homestand. The Yellow Jackets fell at home to North Florida 103-95 on Nov. 10, before rebounding with a 19-point win over Texas Southern. Since then, Georgia Tech has dropped games to Georgia and Cincinnati, most recently an 81-58 defeat to the Bearcats on Saturday.
Doryan Onwuchekwa’s dunk in the opening minutes gave the Yellow Jackets their first and only lead, before Cincinnati pulled away for a 16-point halftime advantage. Georgia Tech trailed by double digits from the 6:17 mark of the first half on.
“From the jump, Cincinnati did a good job of bringing the game to us,” Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire said. “I didn’t think that we matched any of their energy. I thought we played hard in the first half in spurts, but we couldn’t put enough good minutes together.”
Georgia Tech got just five points apiece from its two leading scorers, Baye Ndongo (13.6 points per game) and Javian McCollum (12.8).
Stoudamire’s team is looking to sweep a pair of nonconference home contests this week, as Central Arkansas comes to Atlanta following Wednesday’s game. The road will then become much more difficult, when the Yellow Jackets prepare for games at Oklahoma, at North Carolina and on a neutral court vs. Northwestern.
Before then, the Buccaneers (1-6) try to improve on their 1-8 all-time record against Georgia Tech. Led by coach Saah Nimley, a former Charleston Southern player who grew up in nearby Lawrenceville, Ga., the Buccaneers are still searching for their first Division I win of the year.
Wednesday marks their third power conference game of the year, following losses at Clemson and LSU. Last time out, the Buccaneers fell behind early in a 67-46 home loss to Furman.
Senior Taje’ Kelly, also an Atlanta native, leads the team with 14.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Nimley knows that his group will go as far as Kelly takes them.
“(Taje’s) perimeter skills have impressed me so much,” Nimley said. “His ability to put the ball on the floor in open space has come a long way from his first two years. His development in that area has impressed me the most.”
–Field Level Media
