By Andy Demetra | Voice of the Yellow Jackets
The game was equal parts vexing and validating.
A hard-fought, last-minute loss always stings, especially on the road against the No. 6 team in the country. A 15-0 differential in second chance points certainly gnawed at Georgia Tech. A -24 differential in free throw attempts galled them as well.
But the Yellow Jackets’ ACC opener, an 85-79 loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium, also proved that their recent offensive surge was no fluke. The same team that struggled to put away Maryland Eastern Shore, Georgia Southern and Southeastern Louisiana shot 53.6% against a Duke team that ranked fourth nationally in field goal defense. They hassled the Blue Devils into 40.6% field goal shooting, nearly 10 points below their average. In the din of Cameron Indoor, Tech didn’t flinch against one of the best teams in the country.
Disappointing as the final score was, that kind of effort can still galvanize a team as it moves forward in ACC play. Now comes the home opener for Georgia Tech (9-5, 0-1 ACC), which will look to extend its best home start in a decade when its hosts Boston College (7-6, 0-0 ACC) at McCamish Pavilion. Enjoy the top notes from my chart as Tech opens 2026 with its ACC home opener in Atlanta (2:00 p.m. ET, Georgia Tech Sports Network).
Cole Kirouac (8) has provided a spark for Georgia Tech off the bench in recent games. (photo by Danny Karnik)
Damon Stoudamire spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics, so it’s not surprising that he still retains a bit of the local lingo. One phrase in particular stands out.
“It’s brick out here.”
“Brick,” according to Stoudamire, is Boston slang for cold. The word may have a completely different context in basketball, but it didn’t apply to the Yellow Jackets in Durham. Since joining the ACC, Georgia Tech had never shot better than 50% at Cameron Indoor Stadium. They’ve now topped 53% in their last two trips to Durham – though agonizingly, both games ended in losses.
Boston College has endured some close calls and unexpected losses in non-conference play, but the Eagles also took LSU to overtime in the ACC/SEC Challenge at Conte Forum. That same LSU team drilled DePaul by 33 points in the championship of the Emerald Coast Classic, a day after DePaul beat Tech by 14.
At the top of the scouting report is 6-5 redshirt junior guard Donald Hand Jr. (15.8 ppg), who despite some down shooting numbers remains one of the more dynamic three-level scorers in the ACC. He can slash, strafe threes, has a knack for drawing fouls and excels at above-the-break threes in transition.
Both Hand (26 points) and lefty guard Fred Payne (22 points) recorded season highs in BC’s non-conference finale against Le Moyne. Boston College is shooting a far higher volume of threes than they did last year – they rank 74th nationally in Three Point Rate after finishing 324th nationally last season – but Tech can’t allow easy-access drives and will need to rebound well out of their area.
Kowacie Reeves Jr. has published two books. (photo by Danny Karnik)
Kowacie Reeves Jr. couldn’t have picked a more fitting game for Tech on Saturday.
Today’s game is Georgia Tech’s annual “Fight For Literacy” game, which raises funds and awareness for childhood literacy. Fans are encouraged to donate children’s books outside the gates, and fans who donate will get $10 off their walk-up ticket. It’s terrific synergy for Reeves, who has self-published two books and is rarely seen on road trips without a book in his hand.
In an alternate timeline, the redshirt senior may have also joined the 1,000-point club as a member of Tech’s opponent. Reeves took an in-home visit from Boston College’s coaches while in the transfer portal following his sophomore year at Florida, and Georgia Tech, BC and Mississippi State were the three schools he considered as a potential landing spot.
Reeves scored a career-high 23 points against Mississippi State on December 3, which has ignited a swaggering scoring spree for the 6-6 wing. In the last six games, Reeves is averaging 20.2 points on 51% three-point shooting (19 of 37). A month removed from Mississippi State, what can he do against another school that pursued him in the portal?
Despite its 7-6 record, Boston College brings in some rugged defensive numbers to its ACC opener:
Boston College – NCAA Ranks
Category NCAA Rank
eFG% defense 44.7% #16
3pt.% defense 27.4% #18
Blocks/game 5.4 #20
That could strain a Georgia Tech team that has made 55% of its threes (39 of 72) over the last five games. The Eagles don’t force a gratuitous amount of steals, but they like to swipe and stab at ball handlers and collapse hard from the ball-side corners. They’ve also upgraded their rim protection with the tandem of 6-9 Jayden Hastings and 6-9 Missouri transfer Aidan Shaw. Tech will need to be ball-tough when they pierce the lane, which occasionally cost them at Duke. Can they also win the scramble plays and 50-50 balls that eluded them in Durham?
Chas Kelley III transferred to Georgia Tech this season after playing three years at Boston College. (photo by Danny Karnik)
An update on Chas Kelley III’s ongoing heater: the senior made all four of his field goals, and both of his three-pointers, against Duke in Durham. That now extends Kelley’s streak of consecutive made field goals to 13 straight (8 straight three-pointers) over the last four-and-a-half games. Kelley III has reached double figures in consecutive games for the first time in his career, which began, of course, with 88 games played at Boston College.
He may have switched uniform colors this offseason, but Kelley’s new uniform number is actually a nod to his final semester on the Heights. Last Spring, he followed in his father’s footsteps by pledging Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at BC, and Kelley wears No. 7 – the first player to wear that digit at Tech since 1957 – because he was the seventh in his line.
He’s not the only Yellow Jacket with a connection to BC. Cole Kirouac’s grandfather, Lou Kirouac, played football at Boston College before a four-year NFL career that included a stint on the inaugural roster of the Atlanta Falcons. Cole said his grandfather plans on coming to Saturday’s game.
Now that we’re prepared, we hope you are as well. Join us for pregame coverage starting with the “Ramblin’ Wreck Tipoff Show” at 1:30 p.m. ET on the Georgia Tech Sports Network. See you at McCamish.
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