UNC Basketball vs. Georgia Tech: Preview, game info, prediction and more

The UNC Basketball program is hoping to make it three-straight wins when they host Georgia Tech on Saturday night in the Dean Dome

The North Carolina Tar Heels return to Atlantic Coast Conference action on Saturday when they host Georgia Tech in their third conference game of the year.

UNC opened up the 2019-20 season by hosting Notre Dame and moved to 1-0 by beating the Fighting Irish in the Dean Dome. Since then, UNC has dropped four non-conference games and a conference game to Virginia along the way.

The Tar Heels will enter this matchup at 8-5 overall and 1-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, struggling without their star freshman point guard Cole Anthony. UNC has been pretty banged up this year with injuries, losing Anthony for extended time and now fellow freshman guard Anthony Harris will miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury.

Guard Andrew Platek will also miss his second-straight game, sitting out on Saturday night.

For the Tar Heels, no one is going to make any excuses. They need to go out there and play even with these injury problems.

The Yellow Jackets enter this game at 6-7 overall and 1-2 in conference play. They are coming off a 12-point loss to Florida State and also dropped their game to Syracuse by 34 earlier in the season. Their lone ACC win came in the season opener when they rallied to upset N.C. State.

Like UNC, Georgia Tech struggles to score on the offensive end. They enter the game averaging 65.4 points per game this season which ranks 308th nationally. The Tar Heels aren’t much better, averaging 69.9 points per game which is 230th.  The Yellow Jackets are shooting just 43.2 percent from the field and at times really struggle to get going in their offensive sets.

If UNC can play some good defense, they should make things really tough on Georgia Tech.

Key to the game for UNC

Rebound! Despite the offensive struggles, UNC continues to be a good team on the glass. They enter the game averaging 44.8 rebounds per game which is the best in the country. Georgia Tech is averaging 35.7 per game which is among the worst.

This will be another big advantage for UNC and should lead to more offensive possessions. The problem is, UNC hasn’t been able to take advantage of those extra possessions with their struggling offenses.

That’s going to have to change at some point this season and what better time than Saturday to resume ACC play?

Player to Watch

Armando Bacot. The freshman has shown signs of being a really good post player for this team early in the season but has struggled of late.

After a big performance against Oregon in November, Bacot had a quiet month of December. If UNC wants to make a run at the NCAA Tournament, they are going to need Bacot to play a lot better.

He enters this game averaging 9.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while shooting 47.5 percent from the field. In his last five games, he’s scored under 10 points in three of those games including 2 points each vs. Yale and and Gonzaga. He has had a double-double in that span, posting 15 and 12 vs. UCLA. There’s talent there, Bacot just needs to be more consistent.

What you need to know

What? Georgia Tech 6-7 (1-2 in ACC) AT North Carolina 8-5 (1-1 in ACC)
When? Saturday, January 4, 6:00 p.m. EST
Where? Dean Smith Center – Chapel Hill, North Carolina
TV? ACC Network
Radio? Tar Heel Sports Network
All-time series? UNC leads 67-25
Last meeting? UNC beat Georgia Tech 77-54 on January 29, 2019
Prediction? UNC 72, Georgia Tech 68