2018 ACC tournament preview: No. 13 Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: 13-18, 6-12 in the ACC

Head coach: Josh Pastner (2nd season)

Players to watch: Josh Okogie (18.4 PPG, 6.3 RPG); Ben Lammers (11.5 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 2.4 BPG); Tadric Jackson (12.1 PPG, 3.8 RPG)

Season recap: What began as an optimistic season for Georgia Tech quickly went south, as the Yellow Jackets struggled to endure a plethora of injuries that ground the Ramblin’ Wreck to a halt. In head coach Josh Pastner’s second season in the Peach State, his team suffered four- and seven-game losing streaks in ACC play to slip to the 13th seed in the ACC tournament, its lowest seed since earning the same spot in 2015. 

As they head into their opening-round matchup with Boston College this week, the Yellow Jackets are led by senior forward Ben Lammers, a preseason first-team All-ACC selection who is averaging nearly a double-double. Sophomore Josh Okogie has been a major contributor as well, particularly following the loss of starting point guard Jose Alvarado after he suffered a dislocated elbow in Georgia Tech’s loss to Duke. Alvarado is just one of many Yellow Jackets to miss time—only two players on the roster have not missed at least one game this season.

Without Alvarado, Georgia Tech’s main threat from deep is Okogie. As a team, the Yellow Jackets are shooting just 32.1 percent from beyond the arc while allowing their opponents to shoot nearly 40 percent from the perimeter. With so much lineup turnover, Georgia Tech has had trouble scoring in general this season, averaging just 65.3 points per game. And since their loss to the Eagles in early February, the Yellow Jackets have broken 70 points just once, going 2-6 in that stretch. 

How they make a run: Okogie and Lammers take over, the defense holds opponents enough to make up for a lack of offensive threats, and the Ramblin’ Wreck finds its wheels again to pull off an upset or two in likely its only postseason games.