Virginia To Host ACC Rival Georgia Tech Saturday

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Feb. 22, 2002

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –

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The Game
Virginia, ranked 22nd in the AP poll and 15th in the USAToday/ESPN poll, stands at 16-8 overall and 6-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season. The Cavaliers have lost their last two games and are coming off a 66-59 loss to Florida State (Feb. 20) in Tallahassee, Fla. Georgia Tech stands at 12-15 overall and 4-9 in the ACC. The Yellow Jackets have won two consecutive contests and are coming off a 65-59 win over N.C. State (Feb. 20) in Atlanta, Ga.

The Series vs. Georgia Tech
Each team has had a stretch of dominating the series, which Georgia Tech now leads 30-26. The Cavaliers held the lead until the Yellow Jackets passed Virginia by winning 20 of the last 27 meetings, including nine of the last 11. Virginia snapped a four-game losing streak to Georgia Tech with a 69-65 victory (Jan. 22) over the Jackets in Atlanta. Last season, Georgia Tech swept the regular season series with a 73-68 win (Jan. 9) in Charlottesville (Georgia Tech was the only team to defeat UVa at University Hall last season) and a 62-56 triumph (Feb. 11) in Atlanta. The Yellow Jackets also posted a 74-69 victory (Mar. 9) over Virginia in the ACC Tournament in Atlanta. Prior to UVa’s win in the first meeting this year, the Cavaliers’ last victory in the series was an 83-65 triumph (Jan. 8) in the 1999-2000 season in Charlottesville.

The Cavaliers have only won one of the last four meetings against Georgia Tech in Charlottesville. Virginia’s only home win in the last four meetings was an 83-65 victory (Jan. 8) in the 1999-2000 season. Despite losing three of the last four home games to Georgia Tech, UVa has won 15 of the 23 games played in Charlottesville during the series.

The Cavaliers have won three of five overtime contests in the series, but their 74-68 overtime loss to Georgia Tech in the 1998-99 season snapped a three-game extra session winning streak. The Jackets won the first overtime game in the series 72-71 in triple overtime in the 1983-84 season.

The Cavaliers opened the series with Georgia Tech by winning 10 of the first 13 games, including eight straight from 1981-1983.

These Games are Barn Burners
Even though 10 of the last 16 meetings between these two teams have been decided by at least nine points, people shouldn’t be surprised if this one goes down to the wire.

Of the 43 games since the 1983-84 season, only 14 have been decided by 10 or more points. Seventeen of the games have been decided by a margin of four points or less with UVa winning 10 of them. The Cavaliers have won all three games (1987, 1990 twice) decided by two points. Five games have gone into overtime, including a triple overtime affair (1984) and a double overtime game (1995).

From 1985 to 1990 the teams played 15 consecutive games that were decided by fewer than 10 points with Virginia winning eight of those games.

A breakdown of the close games in the series since the 1983-84 season is below:

1 point - 3     4 points - 5     7 points - 42 points - 3    5 points - 3     8 points - 13 points - 6    6 points - 2     9 points - 2

Jackets Shoot Well vs. UVa
The Yellow Jackets have won 11 of the last 14 meetings vs. Virginia in the past seven seasons and a big part of those wins has been Georgia Tech’s ability to shoot the basketball. In the 11 wins, the Jackets shot 47.5 percent (292-615) from the field. In the three games Georgia Tech lost to Virginia in the last seven seasons, the Yellow Jackets made only 40.1 percent (69-172) of their attempts from the field. In its last 11 wins over the Cavaliers, Georgia Tech averaged 77.8 points per game compared to 64.7 points per game in its last three losses to UVa (the Jackets have scored 65 points twice and 64 once).

In Georgia Tech’s last 20 wins over Virginia dating back to the championship game of the 1990 ACC Tournament, the Yellow Jackets are shooting 47.2 percent from the field, while averaging 74.7 points.

That is in contrast to Georgia Tech’s performance when Virginia wins. In Virginia’s nine wins over Georgia Tech dating back to the beginning of the 1990s, the Yellow Jackets have shot 40.2 percent from the floor and scored an average of 69.8 points.

In Virginia’s last nine wins against Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets have not shot better than 42.6 percent from the field (29 of 68 in the 1994-95 season).

Earlier This Season vs. Georgia Tech
Freshman forward Elton Brown recorded his first career double-double in leading UVa to a 69-65 victory over Georgia Tech (Jan. 22) at Alexander Memorial Coliseum in Atlanta. With the victory, Virginia snapped a four-game losing streak to the Jackets and won for the first time in Atlanta since the 1994-95 season.

Brown tallied career highs of 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead UVa. Junior forward/center Travis Watson notched his 10th double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He equaled his career high with four steals and three assists, and blocked a pair of shots. Junior guard Roger Mason, Jr., added 12 points, while senior forward Chris Williams registered 10 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Freshman guard Jermaine Harper added nine points, including five critical second half points.

The Cavaliers fell behind 8-0 1:26 into the game, but came back to tie the game at 15-15. With the score tied at 23-23, Georgia Tech went on a 10-0 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 33-23, with 4:08 remaining in the first half. UVa pulled within four, 35-31, at the half.

In the second half, Virginia tied the game three times and finally took its first lead of the game (62-61) with 3:12 to play on Harper’s three-pointer. After a Yellow Jacket basket, the Cavaliers took the lead for good, 64-63, on a layup by Watson. A layup by Harper extended UVa’s lead to three, 66-63. UVa made three of four free throws in the final 15 seconds to seal the victory.

Virginia shot 47.4 percent (27-57) in the game, including 55.6 percent (15-27) in the second stanza. Georgia Tech shot only 38.2 percent (26-68) in the game. The Cavaliers also held a 43-31 edge in rebounds.

Ed Nelson and Clarence Moore led the Jackets with 15 points apiece with Moore adding nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocked shots.