Men's basketball starts 2-0
By John Guthrie / Student Publications
Freshman Thaddeus Young, a forward from Memphis, Tenn., began his collegiate career at Tech last week and led the Jackets to two wins.
After a disappointing 2005-2006 campaign where the Tech men's basketball team finished 11-17, Head Coach Paul Hewitt's squad looked to get off to a positive start, as they hosted Elon University and Jackson State University this past week.
In Monday's contest, the No. 23 Jackets easily beat Jackson State 100-70. Eleven players scored points in the game, including six in double figures.
"This is an unselfish team. When we get around the basket I think we finish pretty well," Hewitt said.
Sophomore guard Lewis Clinch led the Jacket's offense with 16 points while junior Re'Sean Dickey added 15 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Fellow junior Jeremis Smith finished with 10 points.
"When we can come in and play like that, I think we can play with any team in America," Dickey said.
The highly-touted recruiting class also showed signs of things to come, as all three freshmen starters finished the game in double figures.
Freshman forward Thaddeus Young scored 14 points to mark his second consecutive game in double figures. Freshman forward Zach Peacock also tallied 14 points, including nine of the first 15 for Tech.
"[Peacock's] a good player. I was looking forward to him getting more comfortable offensively and tonight he started to get more comfortable," Hewitt said.
"I felt a little more comfortable this game than last game. Each game it's coming along," Peacock said.
Freshmen point guard Javaris Crittenton also had an excellent game as he recorded his first double-double of his career by scoring 12 points and dishing out 10 assists.
"It's a great thing getting a double-double my second game, but I'm just looking forward to next game hoping I can get better," Crittenton said.
"[Crittenton is] playing well. As long as he plays with the pride he normally does, he's going to keep getting better," Hewitt said.
Crittenton hit the floor hard when he was pulled down on a break away dunk attempt with seven minutes to play in the second half. He continued to play the rest of the game.
"I don't want to tell you what I was thinking [when Crittenton fell], but I'm glad he's okay," Hewitt said.
For the game, the Jackets shot 65 percent from the field and 33 percent from three-point range but had a poor night at the free throw line connecting on only 60 percent of their shots from the charity stripe.
The Jackets held Jackson State to 39.3 percent shooting from the field as only two Tigers scored in double digits.
Trey Johnson led all scorers with 33 points with Julius Young added 14.
In Friday's match up against Elon, Tech started the season off with a commanding 83-49 victory over the Phoenix, as Paul Hewitt began his seventh season with the Jackets.
The game marked the debut of three freshman in Crittenton, Young and Peacock-something that has not happened since the 1997-1998 season.
The freshmen, rated as one of the highest rated recruiting classes in the country, did not disappoint as the three combined for 41 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists.
"[The freshmen] did a nice job [against Elon], but they've got things to work on and they know it," Hewitt said.
Clinch added 14 points while Smith chipped in with seven points and seven rebounds.
Dickey came off the bench to help the Jackets by adding eight rebounds and four points.
For the game, the Jackets shot 53 percent from the field and 69 percent from the free throw line. Tech's defense helped the winning effort as well, as Elon was held to only 35 percent shooting from the field.
Last night, Tech played host to the Georgia State Panthers at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum. They leave today for a trip to Hawaii to play Purdue in the first game of the Maui Invitational.
Joining Tech at the tournament in Hawaii are Oklahoma, Memphis, UCLA, Kentucky, DePaul and the host team Chaminade.
"This is a big week for our guys academically. We miss classes Friday, Monday and Tuesday have a few games [and] then start finals. It's a grind," Hewitt said.
"It's a lot of pressure, but that's part of our job as student-athletes," Crittenton said.
The Jackets return to the Flats on Nov. 28 to host Penn State.
