By Andy Demetra | Voice of the Yellow Jackets
The Great Atlanta Ice-pocalypse of 2026 proved mostly overblown, but Georgia Tech still has to battle some hazardous road conditions this week.
The Yellow Jackets have only gone 2-12 all-time at Cassell Coliseum, where they head on Tuesday to face Virginia Tech (15-6, 4-4 ACC). Then again, unfamiliar backdrops haven’t fazed the Jackets: Georgia Tech (11-9, 2-5 ACC) has shot 50.3% in its ACC road games, including 40.7% from three-point range.
Yes, Virginia Tech is 11-1 at Cassell Coliseum this year. And yes, they’ve historically frustrated Georgia Tech on their home court.
But as we’ve also seen this weekend, forecasts can be wrong.
Enjoy the top notes from my chart as the Yellow Jackets hunt for a second straight road ACC win (8:00 p.m. ET, Georgia Tech Sports Network).
Georgia Tech grabbed its last road win at NC State. (photo by Jaylynn Nash)
In addition to cold – overnight lows dipping to 3 degrees in Blacksburg – Georgia Tech may also need to brace for suspense. Virginia Tech has won a school-record four overtime games this year, and five of their eight ACC games have been decided by three points or less.
That didn’t include an 85-71 loss to Louisville on Saturday, though the Hokies did drill 16 of 30 three-pointers. Two of Virginia Tech’s scorers, 6-9 guard Neoklis Avdalas (13.1 ppg) and 6-8 forward Tobi Lawal (11.8 ppg), only scored two points apiece, which may impel them to a more aggressive start against Tech. Avdalas’ numbers have tailed off in ACC play, but he remains in the 1st round NBA Draft conversation with his combination of size, passing and playmaking.
Virginia Tech still runs a fluid, analytically-friendly system that’s loaded with slips, counters and crafty play-after-the-play actions. Ben Hammond, a quicksilver 5-11 guard, leads the team in scoring in ACC play (16.6 ppg) and is good at finding slivers of space to attack, and 6-8 Amani Hansberry (team-high 15.2 ppg) excels out of pick-and-rolls and pocket passes.
The Hokies don’t shoot threes as heavily as they have in years past – for a second straight season, they have a lower Three Point Rate than their opponent – though guard Jailen Bedford made 6 of 8 against Louisville and Jaden Schutt (42.5% 3pt.%) will come off the bench slaloming around the perimeter for shots. Tech has struggled to contain secondary scorers in recent games, and Damon Stoudamire in particular cited Schutt (9.3 ppg) as a player to be aware of.
It’s not easy to choke the finesse out of Virginia Tech’s offense, but a few keys may apply. Tech will need to challenge skip passes, make multiple efforts, deny offensive rebounds, and keep its spacing, which caused its help-side defense to leak in the second half against Clemson. Also, how much will Jaeden Mustaf’s presence boost the Jackets’ defense? Foul trouble slowed him against Clemson, but the 6-5 sophomore can be a finesse wrecker against taller players.
Chas Kelley III scored his career-high at Virginia Tech while playing at Boston College. (photo by Kevin Ortiz)
As Boston College prepared to face Georgia Tech in Chestnut Hill last year, Chas Kelley III quickly gained an appreciation for the Jackets’ offense.
“We were going through one of their plays and the scout team was running it,” Kelley III recalled on the “Damon Stoudamire Show.” “The scout team, they’re not high-major Division I players, but we had a hard time guarding it. I was like, ‘Man, this offense is so intricate.’”
He’ll now try to lend that same scoring punch to Georgia Tech that he once showed for the Eagles against the Hokies. Kelley III scored a career-high 17 points at Virginia Tech as a freshman, then earned his first career ACC start at Cassell Coliseum as a sophomore.
No player has sparked Georgia Tech’s road shooting more than Kowacie Reeves Jr., who will aim for a fourth straight 20-point game away from home:
Kowacie Reeves
Opponent Points 3ptrs.
at Duke 23 5 of 7
at Miami 23 1 of 3
at N.C. State 23 4 of 10
3 games: 22.3 ppg, 50% 3pt.
Georgia Tech won’t turn down a similar explosion from Kowacie, but a more pressing issue may be paint points – the Yellow Jackets scored a season-low 20 points in the paint against Clemson. Virginia Tech favors hedging ball handlers, with the ultra-bouncy Lawal lurking to put out fires on the weak side. Can Lamar Washington avoid playing in crowds, which Stoudamire says has caused his turnovers to outpace his assists lately? And can Tech keep Hansberry active defensively to cut down his legs as the game wears on?
Kam Craft has provided Georgia Tech a spark from three-point range. (photo by Danny Karnik)
On January 19, 1989, Virginia Tech overcame a 15-point halftime deficit to outlast VMI 90-83 in overtime at the Roanoke Civic Center. The Keydets got 7 points and a team-high 11 rebounds from junior Mark Craft, the father of Georgia Tech guard Kam Craft, who will also be playing Virginia Tech as a junior. Kam says his Dad still brings up his team’s near-upset of the Hokies.
Don’t look now, but Craft has made 9 of 16 threes in ACC play after only shooting 32.7% from deep in non-conference play. Ironically, his father only attempted three three-pointers his entire career.
The sight of snow blanketing the New River Valley may have elicited a chuckle and a flashback from Damon Stoudamire.
As he recounted on his radio show, Stoudamire received his first NBA fine after he struggled to drive through snowy roads on his way to practice with the Toronto Raptors. Stoudamire arrived late and had to pay the penance.
Now that we’re prepared, we hope you are as well. Join us starting with the “Ramblin’ Wreck Tipoff Show” at 7:30 p.m. ET on the Georgia Tech Sports Network. See you in Blacksburg.
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