ATLANTA — Georgia Tech retired Dennis Scott’s No. 4 jersey on Friday night at McCamish Pavilion. He played for the Yellow Jackets back when they were a national power with coach Bobby Cremins. They’ve never reached the same heights. Arch-rival Georgia came town and showed that Tech still has a long way to go.
The Bulldogs beat the Jackets for the seventh time in the past nine meetings. Georgia won 77-69 but, really, it wasn’t close. The outcome was never in doubt over the final 10 minutes. The Bulldogs were just too much for Tech.
Help is on the way for the Jackets. Second-year coach Damon Stoudamire signed good recruits in both of his cycles. Tech finished 14-18 in his first season. About this year’s team, Stoudamire said: “I just don’t like our mental makeup.”
He said his players need the kind of growth he had in college, when he went from bench player as a freshman to All-American as a senior.
“There are the lessons I’m trying to teach them,” Stoudamire said. “I think sometimes in the world we are in, we don’t allow players to grow and become who they are capable of being.”
Georgia coach Mike White is now 2-0 against Stoudamire. He got a head start on building his program. This is White’s third season in Athens. The Bulldogs won 20 games last season. They could be better this season.
“This team has more of a chance to win ugly, especially on the road, more so than the last couple teams,” White said.
Georgia held the lead over Tech for nearly 30 of the game’s 40 minutes. Both teams struggled shooting 3s — 3 of 18 for Georgia, 6 of 23 for Tech. The Bulldogs overcame that with 46 points in the paint and 13 on fast breaks. Tech had no counter.
Ken Pomeroy’s statistical forecast had Bulldogs-Jackets as a virtual toss-up. But the Jackets didn’t have much juice while falling behind 27-19 at halftime. It could have been worse considering they had nearly as many turnovers (six) as field goals (seven).
A flagrant foul against Georgia gave Tech a jolt early in the second half. Players from both teams pushed and postured whole heading back to their huddles during the replay review. Technical fouls were assessed against Georgia and Tech. Now, the Jackets and their fans were in a frenzy.
Stoudamire said the altercations were “really a whole lot of nothing” and not deserving of technical fouls. The Jackets trailed 29-19 at the time. They outscored Georgia 15-4 run over the next five minutes to take the lead.
“I told our guys before the game, ‘You don’t ever want to taste your own blood in order get fired up,’” Stoudamire said. “(Georgia) did the hitting up to that point. We responded. We answered the bell (initially), but then we didn’t answer the bell after that.”
Doryan Onwuchekwa’s 3-pointer put Tech ahead 34-33. The Jackets finally had momentum. It didn’t last. Georgia regained the lead on Asa Newell’s put-back dunk and never gave it back over the final 10 minutes.
The Jackets hope they are building the program back up to the standards Scott’s days. He played in the NCAA Tournament during all three of his seasons at Tech. The Jackets made the 1990 Final Four with Scott and another player who’d go on to a long NBA career, Kenny Anderson. Tech coach Paul Hewitt guided future pros to more NCAA tournament success in the 2000s.
The Jackets have been fruitlessly chasing high-level success since then. They’ve earned one NCAA bid with zero wins since Hewitt’s team advanced to the second round in 2010. Stoudamire’s good work in recruiting provides hope that Tech can get back to that level. But Friday’s game was another reminder that it’s going to take time.
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