ATLANTA - Despite another big offensive display, defense has been the key to No. 4 Georgia Tech's unbeaten season.
The Yellow Jackets matched the best start in school history with their 11th consecutive victory, routing outmanned Marist 90-40 Tuesday.
"We still are not shooting the ball up to our capabilities, but you've got to be strong defensively every night. Again, we did a nice job defensively," coach Paul Hewitt said.
Tech has outscored opponents by an average of 26.
"That's what coach Hewitt has been stressing - keeping up our defensive intensity," said Isma'il Muhammad, who led the balanced scoring with 16. "That's tough to do when you're up by 20 or 30 points, but we've been making a conscious effort."
The Yellow Jackets also got 13 each from B.J. Elder and Luke Schenscher in equaling the 11 consecutive wins to open the season by the 1962-63 team.
"This game, we wanted to come out and start playing defense the way we did at the start of the season," Elder said.
Marist (1-8) scored the first two points before Tech went on a 12-0 run to begin the rout.
The Yellow Jackets led 38-14 at the half, forcing 14 turnovers. They limited the Red Foxes to four baskets in 19 attempts. For the game, Marist shot 15 for 51 with 21 turnovers.
"Back in 1982, I coached against Georgetown and they were the No. 1 team in the country and had Patrick Ewing and that's the last time I've seen a team that good defensively and that active, that deep and that versatile until today," Marist coach Dave Magarity said.
Tech has won all its games by at least 13 points and beat No. 1 Connecticut 77-61 on its way to winning the Preseason NIT earlier in the season.
"The thing about them that makes them different is that they don't let up and don't stop playing," Magarity said. "We lost that game by 50 points and it wasn't because Paul was worried about the score. He put his subs in with over five minutes left and they still scored."
The 50-point winning margin was the second largest of the season for Tech. The Yellow Jackets beat Tennessee State 94-43 on Dec. 6.
Georgia Tech, with five players averaging double figures, also got nine from Will Bynum and eight points each from Jarrett Jack and Marvin Lewis.
"This is a veteran team," Hewitt said. "Players are the difference. Coaches can talk as much as we want, but when you've got guys like Marvin Lewis and Jarrett Jack, who understand what this is all about, they handle that stuff.
"Of course I'm going to make reference to it from time to time and remind them that we've got a lot of games left to play, but they're the ones that go out and handle it."
Brandon Ellerbee led Marist with 13 points.
The Yellow Jackets shot 51 percent (36 for 71) from the field and 13 of 22 (59 percent) from the free-throw line after making only 1 of 7 (14.3 percent) foul shots in the first half.
The No. 4 ranking is Tech's highest since Feb. 24, 1986. The Yellow Jackets last won 11 consecutive games in 1985-86, when they put together a 15-game winning streak.
The 40 points allowed was Tech's smallest total in the shot-clock era. The Jackets held Georgia to 38 in 1980.
