NC State at Georgia Tech (-6) - 4:00pm Pacific

Before last game vs Wake Forest, Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt felt his team had not yet played their best basketball.  They had not yet played a game with everyone fully healthy and in the flow of things.  Reserve center Theodis Tarver (kneecap) rejoined the lineup 11 games ago and is slowly rounding into the form that saw him become a starter late last year.  Arizona transfer guard Will Bynum is becoming more and more consistent and scoring threats Jarrett Jack, BJ Elder, and Marvin Lewis all appear to be peaking together at the right time.  Hewitt said he felt the team was getting to the point where they could play with any team in the country.  They fell behind big early to Wake Forest before a furious rally in the 2nd half that actually tied the game but they still ended up losing by 4.  Leading scorer BJ Elder was saddled with 2 early fouls and ended up with just 1 point in the 1st half before erupting for 26 in the second.

 

NC State comes in at 3-3 in ACC road games.  Of their 6 road games they are 3-1 vs the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th placed teams in the conference and 0-2 vs teams ranked higher.  They lost at Clemson in their most recent ACC road game and followed that up with an uninspiring non-conference home win over Washington by 5 points.  The Wolfpack have been very fortunate in a lot of their ACC wins including a 4 point win over Tech in Raleigh that the Yellow Jackets will be looking to avenge tonight.

 

Georgia Tech will definitely come out with a sense of urgency tonight.  They are coming off a disappointing loss, will be seeking revenge, and will be hosting the 2nd place ACC team.  This is almost a must win game for them if they are to reach any of the early season goals they were on pace for.  There is little question of the outcome here and I believe it will be decisive enough for the pointspread to not be a factor.

 

Georgia Tech  1 UNIT