Georgia
Georgia Tech Basketball: Instant Takeaways From Yellow Jackets 93-71 Loss to SMU
Georgia Tech suffered an embarrassing road loss against SMU in a game where it felt like they never had a chance after the first five minutes. The Yellow Jackets gave up their second-highest point total this season against the Mustangs in the loss. SMU was reeling after suffering back-to-back losses to Duke and North Carolina, but on Saturday their offense couldn’t be stopped. Here are the biggest takeaways from the Yellow Jackets’ second-consecutive loss.
1. Same trends for the Yellow Jackets continue– One of those trends for Georgia Tech is shooting the basketball. In the first half, Georgia Tech shot just 7-24 from the field and 1-7 from deep. The Yellow Jackets shot it better in the second half shooting 20-35 from the field and 8-16 from three-point range. Another issue that is becoming more apparent is slow starts. In the past two games, the Yellow Jackets have had a myriad of turnovers. If Georgia Tech wants a chance to become a tournament team, this is an area they will need to clean up as the competition intensifies.
2. Georgia Tech turnovers draw a hole they can’t get out of- Georgia Tech trailed 50-19 at halftime. SMU had 11 steals off of 14 first-half turnovers converting it into 21 points. Of those 21 points, SMU had 10 transition points. The Mustangs led by as much as 37 points at one point in the 1st half. Georgia Tech finished with a season-high 22 turnovers that SMU converted into 27 points. The sophomore guard led Georgia Tech with seven turnovers in a rough outing for the young player who averaged just 2.2 turnovers per game. This is another area Georgia will have to clean up in order to ensure they don’t build large holes they can’t climb out of going forward.
3. Road Woes continue for Georgia Tech- Georgia Tech just looks like a completely different team on the road thus far and has struggled mightily. In earlier contests this year against Oklahoma, North Carolina, and even Syracuse the Yellow Jackets showed flashes. Saturday was a completely different story and Georgia Tech didn’t look better until later in the game against SMU. They are now 0-4 on the season on the road. They are also 0-4 against Quad 1 opponents this season, an important metric used when evaluating if a team is worthy of making a tournament. The Yellow Jackets are starting to run out of time and will need to start securing some quality road wins if they want a chance to be in the tournament.
4. Georgia Tech Struggling On Defense- SMU was red hot from the field including shooting 63% from the field in the first half and 46% from three in the game. The Mustangs shot 50% from the field. SMU had five scorers in double-figures. One of the best scorers was Chuck Harris who had the hot hand in the first half finishing with 11 points. He finished with a game-high 21 points and was 7-11 from the field and shot 66% from three. BJ Edwards added 19 points and six steals, Yohan Traore had 13 points, Kario Oquendo had 12 points, and Matt Cross had 11 points.
5. Duncan Powell was a Positive- Powell continues to assert himself and had quite a nice homecoming and return to Texas. He played his high school basketball at Desoto (TX). Powell recorded his second double-double of the season posting 13 points and 11 rebounds. He was also 2-4 from three-point range in the game. He scored 10 second-half points. Powell has been a bright spot for the Yellow Jackets this season off the bench and has been a steady contributor on both ends of the floor.
6. Georgia Tech gets good production from the Bench- It was an ugly loss but good to see the Yellow Jackets continue to get productive from the second unit. They finished with 35 bench points. Javian McCollum had 20 points off the bench and continues to showcase his dynamic scoring ability. His second-half performance allowed the Yellow Jackets to go on a run late in the game as he finished the second half 5-7 from the field and 4-6 from three-point range and with 15 points. Powell had 13 points and was another productive player off the bench.
With the loss, Georgia Tech is now 8-9 on the season and sits at 12th in the ACC.
Georgia Tech Football: 2026 ATH Kadan Spratling Dives Into First Offer From Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech Football: Former Yellow Jackets Wide Receiver Leo Blackburn Transfers to Georgia State
2025 NFL Draft: Yellow Jackets TE Jackson Hawes Ranked As One of the Drafts Best Tight Ends By Mel Kiper
Subscribe to the Clarion Ledger
If you are not a subscriber, consider subscribing now. You will also get access to the Clarion Ledger’s E-Edition, the electronic replica of the print publication along with print archives. The E-edition is also available on our app.
USA Today Network
Kirk Fordice-like Rick Jackson is sounding a whole lot like Daniel Kirkwood Fordice as he tries to be elected Georgia’s next governor.
Fordice came out of nowhere — actually, Vicksburg is somewhere but you know what I mean — in 1991 to become a two-term Mississippi governor.
He had money but nothing like Jackson, a billionaire businessman who’s also trying to emerge from nowhere politically to win Georgia’s top office.
“The establishment hated Trump, because they couldn’t control him. They are going to hate me,” Jackson says in an ad for Georgia’s Republican Primary on May 19, sounding like one of my favorite Mississippi governors — Fordice, because of his unpredictable personality (he could vilify or charm you, all in one sentence), not his politics. He died in 2004 of cancer.
I stood by a cafe entrance one morning, waiting to cover a Fordice speech. When he appeared, I stuck out my hand to shake his. “I’m not shaking your damn hand. You’re part of the problem down there (referring to the newspaper),” he told me, smiling and moving on.
Jackson rose to become one of economic giant-Georgia’s wealthiest people. He came from Atlanta’s rough midtown area, ending up in the foster care system. He left college due to poor financial circumstances.
The 71-year-old Jackson wormed his way into the dynamic city’s business scene in the late 1970s, mostly of the healthcare variety with mixed success before starting a workforce staffing and services company and later an antibiotics manufacturing plant. He turned those businesses into billion-dollar enterprises.
“It’s God’s money,” he said in rural Blakely, and he’s been charitable with it.
Jackson doesn’t try to hide his vast wealth. His family lives in a 48,000-square-foot mansion at Cumming, a place of nearly 100,000 people near Atlanta in Forsyth County, which once promoted its almost all-white population as a virtue.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Bill Torpy recently wrote that Jackson will spend a ton of his own money in seeking another mansion, the one occupied by Georgia’s governor. Torpy noted that present Lt. Gov. Burt Jones was once heavily favored to win the primary race, but he’s fallen behind Jackson’s bold money bid.
“The one-time front-runner in the Republican primary (Jones) has been relegated to No. 2, the result of a $100 million Mack truck running him over.
Rick Jackson, a billionaire healthcare tycoon, a man with a sly smile and reptilian gaze, is the guy driving that truck,” Torpy wrote.
The GOP field includes Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger, who spurned Trump’s demand to find 11,780 votes that would’ve allowed him to win Georgia in 2020.
Fordice was effective with some bombastic rhetoric during his run for governor, but I don’t remember it reaching the histrionic level employed by Jackson. In a major ad blitz, often referencing (Georgia college student) Laken Riley’s murderer, Jackson promises that unauthorized immigrants committing violent crimes will be “deported or departed … any questions?”
In another ad, Jackson growled, “Like President Trump, I don’t owe anybody anything, and like you, I’m sick of career politicians.”
Fordice spent only $1 million to get himself elected Mississippi’s governor. He somewhat sneaked up on the establishment, riding no escalator to the first floor of his Vicksburg concrete river mats-contracting office to declare his intentions. Who could ever forget his announcement seeking the governorship that ran on page 5 of the Clarion Ledger?
Recent polling ahead of Georgia’s May primaries for governor shows the eventual Republican nominee faces a strong Democrat in the November general election, most likely former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. That’ll require another whole pot of money.
— Mac Gordon, a native of McComb, is a retired Mississippi newspaperman. He can be reached at macmarygordon@gmail.com.
Gulfstream recently announced a $5 million investment in Georgia education, welcoming students and leaders to its Savannah headquarters.
-
News25 minutes agoShip operators involved in Baltimore bridge collapse charged with misconduct and obstruction
-
New York2 hours agoDeadly Gang Feud Left Bystander Paralyzed in Brooklyn
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoDetroit leads northern border in drug seizures, federal report says
-
San Francisco, CA3 hours agoCalifornia ‘Fans First’ bill aims to cap skyrocketing concert ticket prices
-
Dallas, TX3 hours agoRanking Every Cowboys Position Group By Overall Talent and Depth
-
Miami, FL3 hours agoSevere weather, flash flooding possible in South Florida on Tuesday
-
Boston, MA3 hours agoCanvas reportedly reaches deal with hackers for stolen data – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News
-
Denver, CO3 hours agoFormer Denver Bronco Craig Morton, who became the first quarterback to start Super Bowl for 2 franchises, dies at 83