Inside The Chart: Georgia Tech vs. Boston College

By Andy Demetra | Voice of the Yellow Jackets

Damon Stoudamire had implored Javian McCollum to be more aggressive.

He had implored Duncan Powell to keep working, even though he began the year dangling near the end of Georgia Tech’s rotation.

Three months of summer workouts, and two months of preseason practice, can only inform a player so much.  Even established transfers have to feel out their identity on a new team.  New roles take time to reveal themselves.

But Stoudamire knew McCollum, his senior from Oklahoma, and Powell, his redshirt junior from Sacramento State, would be vital for him in ACC play, when poise becomes paramount and veterans need to make timely plays down the stretch.

Both delivered in Georgia Tech’s 86-75 win over Notre Dame, scoring 21 points apiece to help the Yellow Jackets earn their first ACC win.

McCollum attacked off the bounce.  Powell hit corner threes, made muscular drives from the slot, and gave Tech critical minutes with Baye Ndongo saddled by foul trouble.  And together, they helped achieve something unprecedented in Georgia Tech basketball history.

The last time the Yellow Jackets had two players score 20 points off the bench in the same game?

There’s no record of it ever happening before, according to Stathead.

That kind of production bodes well for Georgia Tech (7-7, 1-2 ACC), which will look to keep its offensive awakening going when it faces Boston College (9-5, 1-2 ACC) at McCamish Pavilion.  Enjoy the top notes, quotes and anecdotes from my chart as the Jackets wrap up a five-game homestand (12 p.m. ET, Georgia Tech Sports Network):

Duncan Powell (31) wound up with a career high 21 points against Notre Dame. (photo by Danny Karnik)

Basketball players are mostly oblivious to individual numbers during a game.  Or if not, they at least stay coy about it.

Not Duncan Powell.

When the Dallas native toed the free throw line with 2:16 seconds left in the second half, he knew he had a chance at a career high. Powell had scored 20 points on four different occasions during his college career (1 at North Carolina A&T, 3 at Sacramento State), but somewhat stubbornly, he couldn’t seem to break that barrier.

After making the first free throw to give him 20, Powell toed the nail fully aware of the stakes.

“That last free throw went in and out a little bit.  I was kind of scared. I’ve scored 20 multiple times, but 21 feels good,” he admitted afterwards.

Boston College did what Notre Dame could not Tuesday:  overcome a 19-point deficit.

The Eagles trailed Miami 32-13 with just under nine minutes left in the first half before launching their largest home comeback in school history, rallying to beat the Hurricanes 78-68 on New Year’s Day at Conte Forum.

BC brings an old school sensibility to its offense, built around paint touches, offensive rebounds, and two-point field goals.  Its three-point rate ranks 339th nationally, a volume on par with Northwestern.  Its offensive rebounding percentage ranks 39th nationally, putting them in the top three of the ACC.

Leading scorer Donald Hand Jr. (14.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg), the reigning ACC Player of the Week, gives the Eagles a three-level scorer who excels at harvesting free throw trips – he’s sixth in the league in free throw attempts and first in free throw percentage (89.9%).  Six-foot-9, 270-pound Chad Venning has averaged 17.5 points on 75% shooting over his last two games, while 6-8, 235-pound Elijah Strong is a max-effort forward who has averaged 13 points in BC’s three ACC games.

Among the keys for Georgia Tech:  stay solid through its switches, deny easy access drives, match the Eagles’ work rate on the glass, and avoid the quagmire of foul trouble that their paint touches and crash-and-bang rebounding can generate.  The Yellow Jackets are 0-6 this year when they get outrebounded.

Georgia Tech, somewhat sneakily, averaged 1.33 points per possession against Notre Dame.  It was the Yellow Jackets’ second highest efficiency rating in an ACC game in the last 20 years.

Javian McCollum (2) and Powell may be the first Tech teammates ever to score 20-plus points off the bench in the same game. (photo by Danny Karnik)

They’ll now try to duplicate that efficiency against a Boston College defense that digs liberally in its man-to-man and tries to keep paint touches to a minimum.  Venning (#3 ACC bpg), a St. Bonaventure transfer, gives the Eagles a low block bouncer and dribble-drive deterrent.

Georgia Tech has shot better than 50% in five of its last six games versus BC, and the Eagles rank 16th in the ACC in three-point defense.  If the Jackets can keep their ball movement that’s led to back-to-back season highs in field goal percentage, can they find another efficient scoring day against BC?  Worth noting: the Eagles have been outscored 24-8 in fast break points in their two ACC losses.

Damon Stoudamire has challenged Jaeden Mustaf to become a better defender, using his 6-5, 210-pound frame to body up guards and dig down on taller forwards.  With an identical height and weight to Hand Jr., he could give the Jackets a physical counterpoint to BC’s leading scorer.

His head coach may see room for improvement, but the freshman recently achieved a defensive milestone not seen in more than 15 years.

Last Saturday, the Bowie, Md., native collected five steals against Alabama A&M.

The last time a Georgia Tech freshman finished with five steals in a game?  Iman Shumpert, who swiped six against Clemson on Feb. 22, 2009.

Now that we’re prepared, we hope you are as well.  Join us for pregame coverage starting with the “Ramblin’ Wreck Tip-off Show” at 11:30 a.m. ET on the Georgia Tech Sports Network.  See you at McCamish.

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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.

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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.