Olivia Sayer
(Photo Courtesy/Georgia Tech Athletics)
“Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate” will return to the hardwood this weekend, as both the Georgia men’s and women’s basketball teams play Georgia Tech at the McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta.
Georgia men’s basketball will face Georgia Tech on Friday at 8 p.m., while the women will take on the Yellow Jackets on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Georgia men’s basketball
It will be the 200th meeting between the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets, with Georgia taking the most recent matchup 76-62 in Stegeman Coliseum. Despite winning last season’s contest, the Bulldogs actually trail the all-time series by 15 games, with a 29-63 record at Georgia Tech.
Georgia will enter Friday night’s matchup undefeated. The Bulldogs beat North Florida by 13 points on Tuesday night, which is a team that scored 105 on the Yellow Jackets prior in the season.
The Bulldogs appear to be finding their groove offensively, with an average of over 88 points per game, a nine-point increase from last season. The Yellow Jackets have also had solid offensive showings, scoring at least 80 points in each of their first three games for the first time since 2007.
RJ Godfrey, who faced Georgia Tech during his time at Clemson, said that the Yellow Jackets are a well-coached team with a physical presence on their front court. He also said that he embraces the rivalry more with the “Power G” on his chest.
“Especially seeing my dad in my stands,” said Godfrey, whose dad Randall played linebacker for the Bulldogs from 1992-1995. “I was already doing it for more than myself, but just the lineage, and how many people invested in him and my family around here, it just gives me more drive everytime I step on the court.”
This will be Georgia’s first road test of the regular season, but the Bulldogs feel confident — primarily due to their pre-season exhibition games. Silas DeMary Jr. said that the team’s exhibition game against Charlotte prepared the Bulldogs for what they will face on Friday night in Atlanta.
If Georgia is to earn the road win, it will need to heavily rely on its defense. Georgia Tech likes to score in style, with already 92 attempts from beyond the arc. The Yellow Jackets average 10.3 made 3-pointers per game, with two players shooting over 40% from downtown.
Head coach Mike White said that the Bulldogs need to clean up their transition defense. They allowed seven fastbreak points on four steals against North Florida, and White would like to see that number continue to improve against the Yellow Jackets.
Georgia women’s basketball
The women’s team will enter its game against Georgia Tech 3-1 after suffering a six-point loss to Georgia State on Thursday night. The Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets have only played 46 times, with the road team winning each of the last five matchups.
Georgia will see a familiar face in Zoesha Smith, who transferred to Georgia Tech after four years with the Bulldogs. She ended last season as Georgia’s second-leading scorer in points per game behind since-graduated Javyn Nicholson.
Head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson had no comment when asked about Smith’s impact on the team over the past couple of years. She called it a “weird question” and said, “I don’t know how to answer that,” after Georgia’s loss to Georgia State.
She was highly complimentary of her last season, especially after Smith suffered a season-ending knee injury in January.
“She’s an amazing kid,” Abrahamson-Henderson said last season. “She brings a different kind of energy to the team. She’s very fun loving, and she’s always a kid that was like, ‘You got this, you got this, you got this.’”
With Smith now playing about 70 miles west, multiple veteran leaders have stepped up. De’Mauri Flournoy, Amiya Evans and Asia Avinger have all scored in double digits, with the latter taking the blame for the Bulldogs “coming out flat” against Georgia State.
However, the majority of offensive production has come from the newcomers — four incoming freshmen and transfer addition Roxane Makolo — who have accounted for over 40% of Georgia’s 291 points this season.
Georgia Tech’s offensive strategy is based upon accuracy, as the Yellow Jackets have a .459 shooting percentage. They also have multiple players that can score, as six athletes are shooting over 50% this season.
If Georgia is to earn the road win, it will need to match Georgia Tech’s offensive production. The Bulldogs scored 96 points in their season opener — the most by a Georgia team since 2021 — but have yet to score more than 75 since. The Yellow Jackets, on the other hand, have scored over 80 points in two of their three games, with a 109-point performance in their exhibition.