Yellow Jackets still searching for consistency

From a record standpoint, there are at least two ways to express how Georgia Tech has fared in ACC play. One, the Yellow Jackets are 3-8 in the league and in 13th place. Two, Tech has split its past four games.

The improved play that coach Josh Pastner assured in November and December was coming didn’t arrive on his expected timeline of the start of the ACC schedule in late December — at least from a record standpoint and argu- ably from a qualitative perspective. (The team’s eightday COVID-19 pause likely was a delaying factor.)

But the Jackets are doing some things better, namely making 3-point shots and forcing turnovers. Pastner appears to have figured out his rotation after tinkering with the lineup longer than he typically does.

Does that mean winning will follow — or at least occur more frequently than in the first half of the ACC schedule?

“I always say that I might be the wrong person to ask, because it doesn’t matter what it is — I’m going to look at the positive on anything,” Pastner said.

Tech (10-12, 3-8 ACC) will have another opportunity to demonstrate its progress tonight at Miami (16-7, 8-4), which has lost its past two games since beating the Jackets on Jan. 29 at Mccam- ish Pavilion. Miami is still in the chase for the ACC regular-season title and its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2018.

After Tech defeated Clem- son 69-64 on Saturday at home, Pastner said he could “see us starting to turn the corner. Hopefully we can have consistency with that.”

The one thing that the Jackets have been able to count on recently is their ability to create turnovers, often the product of players getting in the right spots to intercept passes or using active hands to knock balls free on the dribble. Entering Tuesday’s games, Tech ranked first in ACC league games in opponent turnovers (14.6 per game) and second in steals (9.2). The numbers are even better than the Jackets’ averages in nonconference games, often against lesser competition (13.4 turnovers forced, 7.4 steals).

“We’re going to get after it,” Pastner said in response to a question about what he can count on from his team each game. “That’s what we do, and the numbers say that by the way we get after it defensively.”

The Jackets also have improved their 3-point shooting of late. Since the cleansing 103-53 win over Division II Clayton State on Jan. 23, the Jackets have shot 37.8% from 3-point range (37-for-98) in four games. In ACC play, they had shot 31.1% (46-for148) before that.

Freshman guard Mike Kelly in particular was aided by the game against the Lakers. After making two of three 3-pointers in that game, he’s 6-for-13 from 3-point range.

“It was definitely big,” Kelly said of the Clayton State game. “I got to play a lot of minutes, and then I hit a couple shots in the game also, so that allowed me to get my confidence back under me.”