Defenseless: Georgia Tech's hot shooting does in Wake Forest

Georgia Tech cracked the combination on Wake Forest's steel-vault defense and made off with its most lopsided victory in the 68-game history of the series.

The Yellow Jackets, shooting 53.7 percent from the field and 60 percent from 3-point range, rolled to a 79-58 victory last night in front a less-than-intimidating crowd of 9,083 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The field-goal accuracy easily eclipsed this season's previous best against the Deacons, Miami's 46 percent on Jan. 9.

"You're not going to win many games when teams shoot 54 percent from the field and 60 percent from three," said senior L.D. Williams of the Deacons.

Georgia Tech's victory was its sixth straight over Wake Forest at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, which concerned Coach Dino Gaudio of the Deacons less than the way it transpired. The Deacons played their standard Pack Line man-to-man defense, they pressed and even played a handful of second-half possessions in a zone. But nothing slowed down the Yellow Jackets on a night when Derrick Favors made 5 of 7 shots from the field, D'Andre Bell made 5 of 8, Brian Oliver 4 of 5 and Gani Lawal 5 of 9.

"I think we are a pretty good defensive team," Gaudio said. "And I don't think anybody in a long time shot 54 percent against us."

The last was Duke, which drilled 54 percent of its field-goal attempts in a 101-91 victory in Durham last Feb. 22 -- 26 games ago.

Georgia Tech's previous most lopsided victory over Wake Forest was an 80-61 romp in Atlanta on Feb. 27, 1992, when freshmen C.J. Harris and Ari Stewart were both a year old.

"I'm really not sure if we can play much better than that," said Coach Paul Hewitt of the Yellow Jackets.

The key, Hewitt said, was balance. Bell led Georgia Tech with 16 points, followed by Lawal with 14, Oliver with 13 and Favors and Iman Shumpert with 11 each.

"I've always been a fan of balanced scoring," Hewitt said. "I think when you have threats on the floor, it spreads it out and makes it easier to get the ball inside.

"I think tonight you saw us get the ball inside pretty easily to Derrick and Gani because, again, of the spacing on the floor."

The Yellow Jackets improved to 15-5 and 4-3 in the ACC. The Deacons fell to 14-5 and 4-3 going into Tuesday's home game against Miami.

The points came free and easy for the Deacons early, and then they hardly came at all. After hitting six of their first seven attempts from the field, they made only 15 of 57 (26.3 percent) in the final 37 minutes.

Al-Farouq Aminu, playing near his hometown of Norcross, Ga., led the Deacons with 15 points and eight rebounds, despite missing long stretches in the second half after picking up his fourth foul while charging into Zachery Peacock with 11:40 remaining.

"I think I was just begging for a call," Aminu said. "I can't do that. That's just childish."

Chas McFarland, bothered by the shot-blocking ability of Favors and Lawal inside, made only three of nine shots from the field. The Deacons needed production from the perimeter, but Harris was 0 for 4 from 3-point range, Gary Clark was 0 for 3 and Stewart was 0 for 2.

"We weren't the greatest on the offensive end," Aminu said. "But we have never been a team that's just a great offensive team this year. We have to rely on our defense.

"And when our defense is struggling, we're going to have a tough time offensively."

Ish Smith finished with 12 points, making 5 of 12 shots from the field. He scored eight in the final 11 minutes after Georgia Tech had extended its lead to 54-37.

"The second half, I felt like I should have played like that the whole game," Smith said. "I apologized to my teammates. I came on too late."

Wake Forest trailed only 40-35 after two free throws by Stewart with 16:36 remaining, but Shumpert nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key, then hit a 16-foot jumper that triggered a 23-9 run, which effectively sealed the Deacons' fate.

Wake Forest was outrebounded 43-34 and made only 13 of 25 free throws.

"Our young guys who are pretty good shooters, Harris and Stewart, just didn't shoot the ball well for us tonight," Gaudio said. "They had some good looks.

"The other thing that is disturbing to me is our free throws. If you want to win on the road, you have to make those free throws."

dcollins@wsjournal.com



727-7323

WFU Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Aminu 33 6-16 1-4 2-8 0 4 15

McFarland 25 3-9 0-2 2-5 1 2 6

Smith 37 5-12 1-2 0-3 4 1 12

Harris 31 0-5 4-5 0-0 2 4 4

Williams 26 3-7 3-4 4-7 2 4 9

Clark 10 1-5 1-3 1-2 1 0 3

Stewart 15 0-4 2-2 0-2 0 0 2

Weaver 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 0

Woods 15 3-5 1-3 0-2 0 3 7

Totals 200 21-64 13-25 13-34 10 20 58

Percentages: FG .328, FT .520; 3-Point Goals: 3-18, .167 (Aminu 2-4, Smith 1-1, McFarland 0-1, Stewart 0-2, Williams 0-3, Clark 0-3, Harris 0-4); Team Rebounds: 5; Blocked Shots: 3 (McFarland, Aminu, Smith); Turnovers: 11 (Smith 5, Williams 2, Harris, Aminu, Woods, McFarland); Steals: 9 (Smith 5, Aminu 2, Clark, Williams); Technical Fouls: None.

GT Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Favors 30 5-7 1-4 1-9 0 2 11

Lawal 24 5-9 4-4 4-9 1 3 14

Udofia 24 2-5 0-0 0-1 3 4 4

Shumpert 30 4-11 1-2 0-5 1 4 11

Bell 31 5-8 5-6 0-5 3 2 16

MMiller 5 0-0 2-2 0-0 0 0 2

Foreman 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Oliver 20 4-5 2-2 0-3 0 2 13

Peacock 26 3-8 0-0 1-5 2 3 6

Rice Jr 8 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 2 2

Totals 200 29-54 15-20 8-43 12 22 79

Percentages: FG .537, FT .750; 3-Point Goals: 6-10, .600 (Oliver 3-4, Shumpert 2-4, Bell 1-1, Udofia 0-1); Team Rebounds: 6; Blocked Shots: 8 (Favors 5, Oliver, Bell, Lawal); Turnovers: 17 (Udofia 5, Lawal 3, Bell 2, Shumpert 2, Favors 2, Oliver, Rice Jr., Peacock); Steals: 4 (Shumpert 2, Udofia, Oliver); Technical Fouls: Lawal.

Wake Forest 29 29 -- 58


Georgia Tech 35 44 -- 79

A--9,083