Georgia Tech @ Wofford preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 22, 2016 ) Wofford 72, Georgia Tech 76

Georgia Tech hits the road for just the second time this season Wednesday, traveling to Wofford of the Southern Conference and hoping that leaving home will shake away some early-season struggles. The Yellow Jackets won four straight after dropping their season opener to UCLA in China, but finished the home stretch with an upset loss to Grambling State on Friday and a seven-point defeat to Tennessee on Sunday.

The Yellow Jackets continue to play without last season’s leading scorer, Josh Okogie, who missed the first six games with a suspension and continues to be sidelined with a dislocated finger. Georgia Tech is getting production from senior center Ben Lammers while freshman guard Jose Alvarado has provided a nice boost, but in the last two losses the Yellow Jackets could not finish off second-half rallies. “We just could not get over the hump,” Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner told reporters after Sunday’s 77-70 loss to the Volunteers. “The hardest thing to coach is when you can’t score.” The Terriers are 3-1 at home in their first season in the new Richardson Indoor Stadium, and come in off a road victory at Coastal Carolina.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN3

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH (4-3): Lammers only scored four points - while being hampered by a twisted ankle - in the loss to Grambling State, but recorded 17 with nine rebounds to raise his averages to 14.6 points and 8.3 rebounds. Alvarado is tied with Lammers for the team lead in scoring, while guard Tadric Jackson is averaging 14.5 points in four games since returning from suspension. The Yellow Jackets rank 21st in the nation in scoring defense at 61.7 points per game.

ABOUT WOFFORD (4-4): The Terriers are shooting 43.2 percent from 3-point range, ranking ninth in the nation in that category, and guard Fletcher Magee is ninth in the nation at 54.8 percent from beyond the arc. Magee leads the Southern Conference and is tied for 16th nationally in scoring at 22.5 points per game, winning the league's player of the month for November. Cameron Jackson, Nathan Hoover and Matthew Pegram also average in double figures for an offense scoring 76.3 points per contest.

TIP-INS

1. Lammers registered 19 points and the Yellow Jackets edged the Terriers at home last season 76-72 as Magee scored 12 for Wofford.

2. Georgia Tech is tied for 22nd nationally in blocked shots per game (5.9), paced by Lammers’ 3.4.

3. The Yellow Jackets have scored more than 70 points once in seven games.

PREDICTION: Wofford 77, Georgia Tech 71