THE FLATS – Securing a first-round bye for the first time in four years, Georgia Tech has drawn the No. 8 seed for the 72nd annual T. Rowe Price ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament and opens play at 12 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday against No. 9 Virginia in the second round at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.
Winners of five of its last seven games, the Yellow Jackets lost 69-43 at Wake Forest Saturday to finish the regular season with a 16-15 overall record, 10-10 in the ACC. The Cavaliers (15-16, 8-12 ACC) dropped an 84-70 decision Saturday at Syracuse and have lost five of seven entering the tournament. Virginia won the teams’ only regular-season meeting, defeating Tech, 75-61, on Feb. 8 in Charlottesville.
The teams have split 10 ACC Tournament meetings, with UVA taking a 72-52 win in the most recent meeting in 2016 in Washington, D.C. The Yellow Jackets beat the Cavaliers on the way to winning their conference titles in 1985 (first round) and 1990 (championship game), both in Charlotte.
The winner of their game Wednesday will face top seed Duke (28-3, 19-1) in the quarterfinal round at noon Thursday.
Tech is 8-8 in 10 previous ACC Tournaments held in Charlotte, winning the championship in 1990 and 1993.
Tech has won seven of 10 games since the start of February, including signature wins over Louisville and Clemson and a third Quad 1 win at Pittsburgh. The Yellow Jackets have done it with a playing rotation thinned by injuries to three key players. Tech has four players averaging in double figures, led by senior guard Lance Terry (College Park, Ga.), averaging 15 points a game, and the sophomore tandem of forward Baye Ndongo (Mboro, Senegal) and point guard Naithan George (Toronto, Ontario). Ndongo has averaged a double-double in ACC games (14.4 ppg, 10.2 rpg), while George has averaged 13.5 points and a conference-best 6.5 assists per game in conference play. Junior forward Duncan Powell (Dallas, Texas) has averaged 11,4 points and 5.5 rebounds, contributing off the bench most of the season until the last month when he was pressed into starting duty because of injuries.
The tournament starts Tuesday with three games. No. 12 seed Notre Dame (14-17, 8-12) faces No. 13 Pittsburgh (17-14, 8-12) in the opener at 2 p.m. ET. No. 10 Virginia Tech (13-18, 8-12) plays No. 15 California (13-18, 6-14) at 4:30 p.m. ET in the Golden Bears’ first-ever ACC Tournament game. No. 11 Florida State (17-14, 8-12) takes on No. 14 Syracuse (13-18, 7-13) in the Tuesday nightcap at 7 p.m. ET.
No. 8 seed Georgia Tech (16-15, 10-10) plays No. 9 Virginia (15-16, 8-12) on Wednesday at noon ET to start the second round. The Cavaliers won a five-team tiebreaker over Virginia Tech, FSU, Notre Dame and Pitt to claim the final bye in the tournament.
No. 5 seed North Carolina (20-12, 13-7) battles the winner of the Notre Dame-Pitt contest at 2:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday. In the second session, No. 7 Stanford (19-12, 11-9) makes its ACC Tournament debut, playing the winner of the Virginia Tech-California game at 7 p.m. ET, while No. 6 SMU (22-9, 13-7) takes the ACC Tournament court for the first time ever as it plays the Florida State-Syracuse winner at 9:30 p.m. ET.
The Wednesday winners then will move on to play the tournament’s top four seeds on Thursday in the quarterfinals.
All 14 tournament games will be nationally televised on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ACC Network. In addition, all games will be available for streaming via ACCNX.
TECH’S ACC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Georgia Tech has played in 44 ACC Tournaments and has a 29-40 all-time record in the event. The Yellow Jackets have won four championships, in 1985 (Atlanta), 1990 (Charlotte), 1993 (Charlotte) and 2021 (Greensboro).
Tech has been a runner-up four times (1986, 1996, 2005, 2010). The 1986, 1996 and 2010 runs to the finals occurred in Greensboro. Tech also made the finals in 2005 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
Tech was 0-2 in the ACC Tournament under coach Dwane Morrison, 15-16 under Bobby Cremins (including titles in 1985, 1990 and 1993), 9-11 under Paul Hewitt (runner-up in 2005 and 2010), 2-5 under Brian Gregory. 3-5 under Josh Pastner (won 2021 title) and 0-1 under Damon Stoudamire.
Tech did not play in the 2020 tournament while serving an NCAA postseason ban.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is in its second year under head coach Damon Stoudamire. Tech has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won four ACC Championships (1985, 1990, 1993, 2021), played in the NCAA Tournament 17 times and played in two Final Fours (1990, 2004). Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball on social media by liking their Facebook Page, or following on X (@GTMBB) and Instagram. For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com. Tickets for men’s basketball can be reserved here.
