Jan. 2, 2015
Coach Gregory interview | Georges-Hunt interview | Complete Game Notes | ACC Network Affiliates
THE FLATS – Having finished its non-conference schedule with a hard-fought victory, Georgia Tech begins Atlantic Coast Conference play on the road against 14th-ranked Notre Dame, the Yellow Jackets’ first Associated Press top-25 opponent of the season, at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Ind.
Tech is 9-3 in its fourth season under head coach Brian Gregory after outlasting Charlotte, 67-66, Tuesday night at home. The Yellow Jackets are 3-2 away from home this season and 1-1 on opponents’ home courts, having beaten Northwestern and lost to Dayton.
Notre Dame, 13-1 overall and 1-0 in the ACC, has lost only to Providence on Nov. 23 in the Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament and is on a nine-game winning streak entering Saturday’s game. All but one of those games have been played at home, where the Fighting Irish defeated Florida State, 83-63, to open their ACC schedule on Dec. 13.
Saturday’s game will be televised on the ACC Network (WATL-TV in Atlanta) and will be streamed live on ESPN3. The Georgia Tech IMG Radio Network, with flagship station WCNN (680 AM/93.7 FM) will also carry the game. Tech’s radio coverage can be heard in satellite radio nationally (Sirius Ch. 108, XM Ch. 193).
Following Saturday’s game, Tech returns home to host Syracuse at 7 p.m. Tuesday night. It will be the Orange’s first-ever visit to Tech’s campus for a game.
STARTING FIVE FOR SATURDAY’S GAME
• Georgia Tech is on the top 40 in three of the four RPI rankings (CBS Sports, ESPN, RealTime) after its victory over Charlotte, No. 51 at the time of the game.
• Tech’s non-conference strength of schedule is ranked No. 33 in CBS’ RPI rankings. Charlotte was be the sixth opponent in Tech’s non-conference schedule ranked in the top 100 in at least one of the four RPI rankings (CBS Sports, ESPN, KenPom, RealTime). The Jackets are 4-1 vs. teams currently in the top 100, having defeated Georgia, Rhode Island, Vanderbilt and Charlotte. Northwestern was No. 90 at the time of Tech’s win on Dec. 3.
• Tech finished out its pre-conference schedule with its second-best record under Brian Gregory against its toughest slate of opponents in four seasons. The Yellow Jackets’ best pre-conference record under Brian Gregory was a 10-2 mark in 2012-13.
• For the second straight year, Tech opens ACC play on the road, this time at Notre Dame, and plays four of its first six conference games away from home.
• Tech’s last seven ACC road trips have produced three wins, an overtime loss, a three-point loss, a four-point loss and a 10-point loss. Tech has won six of its last 14 ACC road games after winning only three times in 36 ACC road games before that dating back to the 2008-09 season.
SERIES VS. NOTRE DAME
Georgia Tech holds a 7-3 lead in the all-time series with Notre Dame that began in the 1940-41 season. The Yellow Jackets had won five straight meetings between the two teams from 1972 through Tech’s 74-69 victory in McCamish Pavilion on Jan. 11, 2014, the team’s first meeting as Atlantic Coast Conference foes.
• The Irish earned a split of the regular-season series and snapped the skid with a 65-62 win in South Bend on Feb. 26.
• This series was played exclusively on the campuses of the two schools until a 2007 meeting in the third-place game of the Paradise Jam. The Yellow Jackets erased a 9-point deficit in the final 5:11 and won the game on a three-point basket by Matt Causey with two seconds remaining.
• Tech is 2-3 in games played in South Bend, and 1-2 in Purcell Pavilion, including an 88-80 overtime win on Feb. 24, 1990, with the Jackets headed toward an ACC title and Final Four berth later that season.
• That game and a 90-80 Tech victory in Atlanta a year earlier were the only two face-offs ever between legendary coaches Bobby Cremins and Digger Phelps.
• Tech is 4-0 all-time against Notre Dame in Atlanta, three of those wins at Alexander Memorial Coliseum and one at McCamish Pavilion.
• Four of the five meetings before that were played with Whack Hyder as Tech’s head coach, and the Jackets won three of those, including an 82-62 win in 1972 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum in Phelps’ first season as the Fighting Irish head coach.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is beginning its fourth year under head coach Brian Gregory. The Yellow Jackets have been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won three ACC Championships (1985, 1990, 1993), played in the NCAA Tournament 16 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 Twitter (@GTMBK).
For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com. Tickets for men’s basketball can be purchased here.
#SWARMSTATS: #GTMBK enters @accmbb play with 2nd-best record under @GTBrianGregory vs. toughest non-conf schedule. pic.twitter.com/Obd48jwU7E
— GT Men’s Basketball (@GTMBK) December 31, 2014
