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Sometimes, it doesn’t matter what you do as a basketball team, you are going to lose. Such was the case for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Thanksgiving Day, as despite a rare productive offensive effort against a quality opponent, the Yellow Jackets were defeated by Marquette anyway, 72-70. The loss for the Yellow Jackets came in large part due to the effort of Golden Eagles senior guard Matt Carlino, a transfer from BYU who had the game of his life, scoring 38 points. Carlino, who hit eight three-pointers and went 14-for-16 from the free-throw line, also added six rebounds.
While the loss has to be frustrating for Georgia Tech, there are positives to take out of the game looking forward. First and foremost, for a team much maligned for its lack of offensive prowess, the fact that the Yellow Jackets put up 70 against decent competition is formidable. This, combined with an 80-point effort in a season-opening win over rival Georgia, indicates that perhaps the Yellow Jackets will be more of a force to be reckoned with at the offensive end of the floor once ACC play begins. Georgia Tech (3-1) was led by reserve guard Tadric Johnson, who scored 17 points, while starting forward Marcus Georges-Hunt contributed 14. Tech only shot 44 percent, but they grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and put up 63 shots to Marquette’s 47.
Georgia Tech should also be encouraged by the fact that in all likelihood, they won’t fall victim to another night like the one Carlino had again this season. Nothing in Carlino’s line leading into this game would have suggested that he was going to go for nearly 40 against Georgia Tech. Carlino, who had twice set a career high with 30 points in games for BYU against Portland and San Francisco during his three seasons with the Cougars, had scored just 34 points total in the four games Marquette had played prior to Wednesday. Carlino hit more three-pointers (eight) on Thursday than he had the entire season up to that point (seven).
Such performances come about once a season, and it’s especially rare for a player who already had a career high of 30 points to best that by a full eight. While you could blame Georgia Tech’s defense, even the best teams fall victim to hot nights from a player on occasion. The Yellow Jackets should be much more encouraged by their offensive production to start the season in terms of looking ahead to a tough ACC slate. Georgia Tech plays Rider tonight in a consolation bracket game at the Orlando Classic and would be wise to concentrate much more on what they did right offensively against Marquette than how Matt Carlino almost single-handedly beat the Yellow Jackets.
Ed Morgans is an ACC Basketball Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @writered21 and add him to your network on Google.
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