ATLANTA — Siena coach Fran McCaffery expected Georgia Tech's front line of Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal to cause matchup problems.

Instead, guard Mfon Udofia hurt the Saints more.

"We were more concerned with post feeds than we were with the jump shot," McCaffery said. "When you play like that sometimes, guys make you pay."

Udofia scored a career-high 26 points, and Favors added 16 and Georgia Tech beat Siena 74-61 on Wednesday night.

The two freshmen combined for 15 rebounds, but Udofia was 5 for 8 on 3-pointers to create problems for Siena on the perimeter.
Lawal added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Yellow Jackets (5-1).

Clarence Jackson led Siena (4-3) with 19 points. The Saints, who have dropped two of three, never led and had no other players score in double figures.

Udofia, a point guard from nearby Miller Grove High School in Stone Mountain, also had seven rebounds. His 10-foot runner with 4:06 remaining gave Georgia Tech a 68-54 lead.

"At the beginning of the year, I had no intention of starting him, but he's kind of just forced his way into the lineup with how hard he plays," Jackets coach Paul Hewitt said. "He's taken advantage of our big guys. I said a few games ago that once our passing improves inside the paint, our shooting will get better. Well, today we made seven (3s)."

Favors, a 6-foot-10 forward from nearby South Atlanta High, hit a layup to put the Yellow Jackets up 54-47 with 8:44 left in the game.

The closest Siena came in the second half was three points on freshman O.D. Anosike's layup at the 13:40 mark, but Udofia followed with a 3-pointer to make it 46-40.

McCaffery, whose two-time defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion team upset Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season, believes Udofia has the skills to help Georgia Tech challenge for an Atlantic Coast Conference title.

"The other pieces are there, and if he plays like that," McCaffery said, "then they are clearly not only one of the premier teams in the ACC, but also in the country."

Not if you ask Hewitt, who was irritated with his team's lack of intensity in the first half.

"Going for loose balls, stopping your guy from driving to the paint, being outrun down the floor — it's about stepping up to the competition," Hewitt said. "It's a battle for a fumble or a loose ball. That's what we talked about at halftime, not Xs and Os."

Georgia Tech went from the 6:07 mark of the first half on Iman Shumpert's 3-pointer without a point until Udofia's 3 with 1 second remaining made it 32-28.

When Iman Shumpert saw Udofia open, he quickly swung a pass to the right corner.

"I was wide open," Udofia said. "That was big."

Siena ended the first half without scoring after Anosike's layup made it 29-28 with 4:01 remaining.

"That's when we lost the game," McCaffery said. "We should've taken the lead and should've been up six or seven halftime. Not only did we miss shots and turn it over, we missed foul shots."

Siena swingman Edwin Ubiles, who averages 11 points, couldn't play because of a leg injury.

Jackson was disappointed in his performance on the perimeter after going 3 for 14 on 3-point attempts. The Saints finished 4 for 28 beyond the arc.

"We have good shooters," Jackson said. "We take the shots. They just weren't falling for us."

Georgia Tech and Siena were playing for the second time and first since 1994, when the Saints knocked the Yellow Jackets out of the NIT.