ATLANTA – While Georgia’s star Yante Maten was held in check throughout the first half of the 60-43 victory over Georgia Tech, forward Derek Ogbeide showed that he can be an important force down low.
Ogbeide finished with 11 points and seven rebounds - which with the exception of a free throw - came in the first 20 minutes of action. He was able to provide a spark while Maten struggled to find early production due to Georgia Tech’s 1-3-1 defensive zone and when into the locker room with only five points.
The sophomore has shown improvement in terms of rebounding, especially in Georgia’s recent win over Louisiana-Lafayette in which he collected 13 rebounds. On Tuesday, Ogbeide was also able to chip-in on the scoring column for his second double-digit performance of the season.
Georgia Tech had plenty of focus on the Bulldogs’ two stars, thus the Atlanta native was able to be a difference-maker in the return back to his hometown.
“The floor opened up for me, they were playing extra hard on our two main guys,” Ogbeide said. “I saw the opportunity and took advantage of it the best I could.”
Georgia needed Ogbeide’s contributions in the first half, with the Bulldogs unable to find an offensive rhythm. Georgia was only able to shoot 31 percent from the field and had numerous periods of stagnant production.
Maten, who has posted some impressive numbers with 33 points against nationally-ranked Kansas and 30 points against Charleston Southern. And while Georgia may hope for a perimeter player to emerge as the team’s third scorer, Ogbeide shows he can provide a spark inside.
“We’ve been talking all year within our team that eventually Yante is going to have an off night,” Fox said. “Now you have to give Tech credit for Yante not having a great first half. We knew that we have more guys on our team and Derek seized the opportunity. He was a key part of us having a lead at halftime.”
As a duo, Maten and Ogbeide didn’t have an off night defensively as they were able to contain their opposition inside the paint. Georgia Tech’s leading scorer Ben Lammers was held to only 10 points as the Yellow Jackets’ leading scorer, and his counterpart Quinton Stephens was held scoreless despite averaging 11.7 points per game this season.
Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner credited Georgia’s frontcourt corps and the containment of Lammers and others.
“Their bigs are good and well-coached,” Pastner said. “It’s just you can’t score (down low) and miss those layups, it sucks the life out of you.”
Last season, Ogbeide shot 47.2 percent from the field. A season later, he has converted on 58.6 percent of his shots through 11 games. The sophomore was hindered by a shoulder injury, in which he suffered at the beginning of the season. Aside from being out of action for a significant period, it took Ogbeide a while to become accustomed to the college game, and was unable to cash in on layup opportunities.
Now, his hook shot is something that Georgia has depended on and his improvement in that regard makes Ogbeide a formidable presence in the paint.
“Derek is a great rebounder,” Fox said. “That’s the advantage of having him play next to Yante. He probably doesn’t get as many shot opportunities because he plays with such a great player. He continues to develop, much like Yante did, and tonight he was very effective.”
