Virginia Tech will have to get over Thursday night's heartbreaker quickly.  Georgia Tech is coming to town, and they represent a good opportunity to pick up an ACC win.

The Yellow Jackets are struggling under first-year head coach Brian Gregory.  They are 9-16 overall, and they are dead last in the ACC with a 2-9 record.  The Yellow Jackets upset NC State 82-71 in Raleigh, and they also have a 51-47 win over Boston College in Atlanta.  Their losses have come by an average of 12.3 points per game, and only two of them have been by five points or fewer.  When they lose, the Jackets generally get blown out, including a 70-38 beating at the hands of UVA in Phillips Arena.

Georgia Tech is a young team with no standout player, so it's really no surprise that they are struggling so much this year.  Former head coach Paul Hewitt didn't leave Brian Gregory a whole lot to work with.














































































































































































































































































































































Rank Pos Player Ht Wt Commit (verbal date)
1 WR/ATH Joel Caleb 6-3 215
2 DE Eli Harold 6-4 220 Virginia (8/2/11)
3 DB/WR Alex Carter 6-0 185 Stanford (4/2/11)
4 LB/DE Ken Ekanem 6-3 230
5 RB J.C. Coleman 5-7 170 VT (4/23/11)
6 LB Kwontie Moore 6-1 240 Virginia (5/11/11)
7 DT Korren Kirven 6-4 270
8 LB Deon Clarke 6-3 215 VT (6/29/11)
9 S C.J. Prosise 6-2 200 Notre Dame (5/26/11)
10 WR/S Anthony Cooper 6-0 180 Virginia (7/20/11)
11 DT Nigel Williams 6-3 260 VT (7/10/11)
12 DL Courtnye Wynn 6-5 245 Virginia (7/10/11)
13 LB/RB Trey Edmunds 6-2 200 VT (8/5/11)
14 OL Win Homer 6-5 240 Boston College (5/27/11)
15 LB Devin Vandyke 6-1 205 VT (7/3/11)
16 S/WR Desmond Frye 6-3 200 VT (4/25/11)
17 OL/DT Andre Miles-Redmond 6-4 265 Virginia (6/30/11)
18 ATH Der'Woun Greene 5-10 175 VT (4/23/11)
19 DT/OL Tyrell Chavis 6-4 288 Virginia (6/18/11)
20 RB/LB Devon Johnson 6-0 200 Marshall (1/25/11)
21 TE Dakota Jackson 6-4 230 VT (3/28/11)
22 QB/ATH Brenden Motley 6-4 190 VT (6/22/11)
23 LB/S Mark Hall 6-2 200 Virginia (2/21/11)
24 WR/S Mario Nixon 6-5 200 Virginia (8/9/11)
25 WR/CB Maurice Canady 6-1 165 Virginia (6/11/11)
26 DT/OL Derek Dowrey 6-3 275 Penn State (6/25/11)
27 DT Alston Smith 6-2 260 VT (7/9/11)
28 WR/TE Kyle Dockins 6-4 200
29 S Mike Tyson 6-2 185
30 WR Romond DeLoatch 6-4 210
31 QB Connor Jessop 6-4 200
32 OL Jackson Matteo 6-5 275
33 TE/DE Dylan Stallings 6-4 225
34 LB Rhakeem Stallings 6-0 205
35 DB D'Metrius Williams 5-11 180
36 LB Darius Parson 6-2 220
37 DB Wil Wahee 5-10 185 Virginia (5/9/11)
38 WR Thomas Smith 6-2 210 VT (7/17/11)
39 DL/TE Seth Dooley 6-5 220 VT (7/9/11)
40 DB/WR Carlson Milikin 6-0 185 Virginia (lacrosse)

Obviously Georgia Tech doesn't have a lot of scoring threats in their starting lineup.  Everyone in that group seems pretty much the same.  Their top scorer, Glen Rice, Jr., has started just 10 games this season, and he has averaged 13 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while mostly coming off the bench.

Rice is a quality wing, thought he's better suited to being a complementary scorer.  He's not the type of player who can shoulder the entire scoring load, as he needs to do for Georgia Tech to be successful.  Not only does Georgia Tech not have a consistent primary scorer, Brian Gregory also doesn't know what second scorer he can rely on from night to night.  Sometimes it's Mfon Udofia, sometimes it's Kammeon Holsey, etc.  That can make it difficult for a coach to gameplan, and Seth Greenberg is having the same problems at Virginia Tech, where Erick Green is the only consistent scorer on the team.

A quick run through the conference-only stats shows why Georgia Tech has been so bad this year.

Scoring offense: 10th
Scoring defense: 9th
FT %: 11th
FG %: 10th
FG % defense: 8th
3-Pt. %: 6th
3-Pt. % defense: 12th
Rebounding Margin: 5th
Turnover Margin: 11th

The Yellow Jackets don't rank higher than fifth in the league in any category.  They average just over 57 points per game against ACC teams, and that's not going to get it done.  Clemson, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and Boston College are five of the bottom six teams in ACC scoring average, and it's no coincidence that they are also at the bottom of the league standings.

Georgia Tech will bring several guys off the bench.

Nate Hicks (6-10, 218, So.): Hicks averages just under eight minutes per game.  He has been a good rebounder, but he's not a scorer.

Nick Foreman (6-3, 210, Sr.): Foreman is a defensive specialist who doesn't take many shots.  He's on the court for about 10 minutes per game.

Julian Royal (6-7, 230, Fr.): The Hokies recruited Royal very hard.  He is Georgia Tech's top post player off the bench.  He has range on his jumper and he's a good offensive rebounder.

Pierre Jordan (6-0, 170, r-Sr.): Jordan is a transfer from Florida State.  He's a marginal ACC player who rarely got off the bench for FSU, and who plays only 12 minutes for Georgia Tech.

With the exception of Royal, Georgia Tech just doesn't have a lot of talented depth.  Nick Foreman and Pierre Jordan wouldn't get off the bench very often at most ACC schools, and Hicks probably wouldn't play at schools with any kind of frontcourt depth.

That being said, there is certainly talent in their starting lineup.  Mfon Udofia and Glen Rice, Jr. were both top 50 players coming out of high school.  Jason Morris played in the Jordan Brand All-Star Game.  Kammeon Holsey was  top 100 recruit, and Brandon Reed was the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year before transferring to Georgia Tech from Arkansas State.

The big issue for Georgia Tech has been turnovers.  They have 369 turnovers, while their opponents have only 288.  The Yellow Jackets are losing the battle of possessions, and as a result they are losing a lot of basketball games.

At home, this is a game Virginia Tech has a great chance to win.  They have to make sure they put the Florida State game behind them.  Tip-off is scheduled for 3pm, and the game will be televised by RSN.  Check your local listings.