Here are three things we learned from Georgia Tech's 80-71 road victory over Georgia on Friday night — marking the first time in 50-plus years the Jackets have won consecutive games at Stegeman Coliseum (1959, 1961).
The senior transfer, who averaged double-digit scoring his sophomore and junior campaigns at Tennessee, only connected on 4 of 11 shots from the field on Friday. But he was particularly aggressive on the fast break and against the Bulldogs' packed-in zone, burying two 3-pointers and 9 of 11 free throws.
For the night, Golden — who burned eventual Final Four entrant Wichita State for 25 points and five assists last year — posted team highs in points, shots attempted, 3-pointers made, free throws attempted and FTs made.
Golden also had good timing, knocking down a second-half triple that extended Georgia Tech's peak lead to 55-40, essentially stopping any of the momentum Georgia collected late in the first half.
His triple capped a 12-2 Jackets run.
Going further, Golden seems to be a perfect complement to the guard rotation of starters Marcus Georges-Hunt (10 points, four rebounds), Solomon Poole and reserves Stacey Poole, Jr. (five points) and Travis Jorgenson, who has solid dribble-drive moves for a freshman.
The Bulldogs (39 percent) actually outperformed the Jackets (38.2 percent) in this realm, a strange occurrence considering only one Georgia player (Charles Mann — 24 points, three rebounds) made more than three shots from the field.
And while Mann (7-of-12 shooting; 4 of 4 on 3-pointers) showed flashes of brilliance against the Jackets, his seven turnovers were a sobering reminder that Georgia might have trouble replacing the departed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (now of the NBA's Detroit Pistons) in other phases outside of scoring prowess.
On raw talent, though, the sophomore Mann could soon emerge as one of the SEC's most promising perimeter players.
For Georgia Tech (3-0), center Daniel Miller (14 points, 13 rebounds) and forward Kammeon Holsey (10 points, 12 boards) combined for 10 field goals on 17 shots. After that, the Jackets had a field-goal percentage of 31 percent (16 of 51).
Ugh.
Forget about the week-in, week-out rigors of the newly-expanded ACC, which added Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Notre Dame over the summer.
With outings against Dayton (Nov. 20), Ole Miss (Nov. 29), Illinois (Dec. 3), Vanderbilt (Dec. 21) and Charlotte (Dec. 29), and a projected encounter with St. John's (Barclays Center Classic in Brooklyn), Georgia Tech will be properly tested during the November and December months, as well.
Perhaps to a breaking point.
Half-jokes aside, this viable schedule should do wonders for Georgia Tech's confidence heading into the conference campaign.
It should also help the Jackets maintain a high RPI ranking throughout the year — the first step toward earning the respect of the NCAA Tournament Committee in March.
It's not the friendliest of schedules, however.
Beginning Dec. 21, Georgia Tech has three daunting road swings against top-notch competition — starting with Dec. 21-Jan. 7 (at Vanderbilt, Charlotte, Maryland, Duke) ... Jan. 21-Feb. 4 (road games at Boston College, N.C. State, Wake Forest, Clemson — with a home tilt against North Carolina sandwiched in) ... and Feb. 26-March 4 (at Notre Dame, Florida State, Syracuse).
In other words, the Jackets picked the perfect time to notch their first three-game winning streak against the Bulldogs (1-1) since 1992-94.
