Jackets get ready for ACC home opener against UNC

Georgia Tech's men's basketball team will open ACC home play on Wednesday night with North Carolina as both teams hit the court after long layoffs for the holidays with the Jackets having an unexpected one after the cancellation of the UAB game last week. Last year the Jackets upset North Carolina 96-83 in Chapel Hill in one of the worst losses of the Roy Williams era.

Tech has won four of their last five with the lone loss during that stretch coming in the ACC opener at #18 FSU.

Jackets' head coach Josh Pastner said both teams have been cleared to play on Wednesday night though he was evasive about the specifics of the post-break COVID testing results from his team after a break for Christmas.

"I mean, if we weren't (cleared), we wouldn't be (playing). The game would be canceled already. So we're, we're the as of right now at 2:25 pm on December the 29th, I guess 29 hours and 35 minutes before game time, we're scheduled to play both North Carolina and Georgia Tech. Obviously, things can happen between now and then but we're, as far as I know, we're both in the clear," he said.

Tech has played with a smaller lineup this year with either Moses Wright or Jordan Usher manning the five spot, but Carolina has a bigger lineup with senior forward Garrison Brooks and sophomore Armando Bacot as well as reserve bigs Day'Ron Sharpe and Walker Kessler so Pastner said that will be a challenge for his team and he could deploy Rodney Howard and Saba Gigiberia in the post some for defensive purposes.

"Not only do they have Bacot and Brooks, but they've also got Kessler and Sharp comes off the bench. Those four guys rotate. They're all for really good. They play volleyball on the offensive glass. I mean, I think they almost rebound 40% of misses. They're an excellent offensive rebounding team," Pastner said. "They're an excellent team in transition offense. We still got to do is Georgia Tech and Saba or Rodney have to be ready to play."

Pastner was quick to point out that his guards rebound well with Mike Devoe averaging 5.4 rebounds per game and Bubba Parham and Jose Alvarado each averaging over three a game as well.

North Carolina has won 9 of 11 games in the recent games against Georgia Tech.