Georgia Tech chases better defensive effort vs. Drake

Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire thought his Yellow Jackets could rely on their defense.

Their latest result might dent that confidence.

The Yellow Jackets suffered a 75-61 loss to DePaul in the first game of the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla., on Friday. They'll return to the court Saturday afternoon to face Drake in the consolation game.

DePaul scored 50 points after halftime on 18-of-30 shooting from the field and 10-of-11 foul shooting. Georgia Tech (5-2) allowed DePaul to score 23 times on 32 possessions in the second half.

The Yellow Jackets fell flat five days after Stoudamire praised his team's defense in an 82-66 win over West Georgia.

"I've been fortunate where I've been a part of really good defensive teams as a coach," Stoudamire said. "Whether that was with the Memphis Grizzlies, you know, whether that was when I was an assistant at Arizona, the guys we had, but this defense that we have is really elite.

"If we stick with that, we'll be a really good team."

At the same time, Georgia Tech shot just 11 of 32 from the field for 29 points in the second half on Friday as it squandered a seven-point halftime lead. Akai Fleming led the Yellow Jackets with 13 points for the game, and Mouhamed Sylla scored 10.

In the second semifinal game Friday, LSU built a 16-point lead in the first half and beat Drake 71-62.

The Bulldogs (4-3) outscored the Tigers by five in the second half and got as close as six on Griffen Goodbary's triple in the final minute before time ran out. Jalen Quinn led all scorers with 20 points, his third time scoring exactly 20 this season.

Quinn, a Loyola Chicago transfer and Drake's leading scorer, is part of a mostly new roster -- only two players from last season stayed following coach Ben McCollum's departure for the Iowa head-coaching job.

Speaking to reporters earlier this month, new coach Eric Henderson preached the long view.

"We want to see continued growth," he said following an easy win over Division III Simpson. "And especially offensively, when you bring this many new guys together, it's gonna take some time to understand each other's games and make each other better."

--Field Level Media