The Georgia Tech/Wake Forest game has a lot of default importance. Wake is the no. 4 team in the nation and they just beat Duke so that is enough to bring out some media and fans. There are at least three first round draft picks on the court so that scouts and GM's like Kiki Vandeweigh are here. But the pre-game lacks an energy. That's because Tech is losing and downtrodden. If they are going to save this season they have to find ways to do things that they don't normally do.
Halftime- Wake- 43, G-Tech- 41- Tech has come out with renewed intensity and it has caught Wake by surprised. You can see in their efforts they are working harder for rebounds on both ends. Clinch is dazzling in the lane, scoring 15 points in the half. And over time they are getting results on defense, which has allowed them to climb back into the game after going down by eight early. If they would have executed better on offense and not given up quick threes, they would be leading right now. Wake is frustrated; the two technical fouls show it. Tech has also dazzled from the line hitting 75 percent. They have one more half to put together.
Georgia Tech v. Wake Forest- The Recap
Freshman point guard Iman Shumpert was a McDonald’s All-American coming out of high school and is used to having the ball in his hands at crunch time. During Tech’s seven straight losses, that has meant more gut-renching mis-steps than glory. However, with less than two seconds remaining in the game, Shumpert drove into the lane a drained a classic jumper to help Tech defeat no. 6 Wake Forest 76-74.
The Yellow Jackets been knocking on the door of getting the lead on Wake for most of the last ten minutes of the second half, but each time they inched within striking distance a missed free throw or a Jeff Teague (16 points) shot would thwart their efforts. However, Shumpert’s shot to tie the game with 21 seconds left and the game winner were smooth and well-executed. “He’s growing up, he’s a freshman,” said head coach Paul Hewitt of Shumpert. “I told him at the end of the games, you are going to have the ball in your hands and, early on, he was unsuccessful but you don’t stop going to guy that you know has talent and has some courage. And today he made the shot and hopefully this is a hump that he has crossed.”
Those final moments were the culmination of a stellar effort by the Jackets, who showed fire and intensity early as Lewis Clinch weaved through the defense repeatedly on the way to 15 first half points. Wake experienced early success as well going up 26-18 points in the first half behind 11 points by freshman and Norcross alum Al-Farouq Aminu and nine points by James Johnson. Tech cut the lead to 34-33 behind a 15-8 run. Clinch had six points during the stretch. They also may have gotten in the Demon Deacons heads as both Teague and Ishmael Smith were called for technical fouls in the first half.
While the Jackets had a solid first half, there were moments when their execution was lacking. Much of this was cleared up in the second half as Tech went inside often to Gani Lawal and Alade Aminu. Lawal returned to form with 25 points and 10 rebounds. “We felt they didn’t defend the pick and roll that well,” said Lawal. “We wanted to expose their ball screen defense.”
Lawal also went 11-14 from the free throw line and credited intense repetition for the effort. Aminu led the defensive charge with six block shots to go with his 10 points and 13 rebounds. The defense was critical down the stretch as Tech held Wake to seven points over the last eight minutes of the game. Wake’s struggles were part of a fundamental shift in late game execution for the two teams. After hitting an ESPN Classic-worthy game winner against Duke, Wake ended the game with two turnovers; Harvey Hale (previously a Jacket killer) threw the ball away on the inbounds play and Johnson’s desperation heave to end the game. During the same stretch, Tech hit two well-executed plays to seal their first conference win of the season.
The tone in the locker room was interesting after the stunning win. Despite having the crowd rush on to the court afterwards and ending a seven-game losing streak, the players weren’t relieved as much as they were justified. “That shouldn’t happen. We should be the ones understanding that we are supposed to win. So at the same time it’s a good thing, but it’s something we are supposed to do,” said Alade Aminu said of the end of game celebration.
