Wrapping up the home slate
🆚 Miami
⏰ 7:00 PM
🏀 Senior Day
📺 @accnetwork
📻 @680TheFan / 93.7 FM#StingEm 🐝 pic.twitter.com/OnSv7Y94iU— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) March 4, 2025
By Andy Demetra | Voice of the Yellow Jackets
From 2-6 and riddled with injuries to a first-round bye for the ACC Tournament.
It may have seemed hard to conceive when Georgia Tech sat in 15th place in the ACC, with three starters out and the grind of ACC play yet to truly begin.
It’s a long season. In mid-January, that could have been said with determination. Or, given their struggles and string of injuries, it could have been spoken in resignation.
Georgia Tech (15-14, 9-9 ACC) chose the former. And the Yellow Jackets now have a chance to wrap up a top eight spot for the ACC Tournament that may have felt like a remote ambition five weeks ago.
“There were a lot of days where they probably wavered, and they had a choice to make. You can either quit or stop playing hard, or we can try to figure this thing out. They chose to figure it out,” said head coach Damon Stoudamire.
“I’m proud of the guys. It hasn’t been easy.”
But as Stoudamire also added, the job isn’t done. The next step comes on Tuesday as Tech faces Miami (6-23, 2-16 ACC) on Senior Night at McCamish Pavilion. Enjoy the top notes from my chart as the short-handed, strong-willed Yellow Jackets look to clinch a bye and close down their home court (7 p.m. ET, Georgia Tech Sports Network):
Thank you, 0️⃣#StingEm 🐝 pic.twitter.com/ixbDdvG7zz
— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) March 4, 2025
Stoudamire knows about the dangers of facing a team with nothing to lose.
Twenty-nine years ago in the NBA, he was on one of those teams.
As he shared with his players this week, in his rookie season in March of 1996, his expansion Toronto Raptors shocked the eventual 72-win Chicago Bulls 109-108 at SkyDome. The Raptors finished 21-61 that year.
“It was like our championship,” Stoudamire recalled.
Miami may be nearing the end of an annus horribilis, highlighted by the December 26 resignation of longtime head coach Jim Larrañaga, but Stoudamire understands the mindset that could make them a thorny matchup. Among their players to watch:
- 6-7 senior Matthew Cleveland, an Atlanta native and son of a pair of Tech grads, ranks third in the ACC in scoring in league play (20.2 ppg) and will likely want to put on a show in his hometown. In addition to being a demon in transition, the Hurricanes like to isolate him in the long post, where he has an array of finishing moves.
- 6-8 Brandon Johnson (8.1 ppg) scored an ACC-high 20 points against North Carolina and gives Cleveland a positionally versatile complement.
- McDonald’s All-American freshman Jalil Bethea (7.0 ppg) has straight-line burst and an abundance of confidence off the dribble.
Miami likes to work off pops, rolls and dribble handoffs, with its guards given plenty of freedom to create one-on-one. Tech did a terrific job playing in gaps against NC State. Can the Jackets be sound in their shifts and make Cleveland feel their physicality? Can they force a steady diet of non-rim two’s? And can they limit transition against a Miami team that will be looking to catch some confidence from its individual shot making?
Gravity may have gotten ahold of him on his ill-fated dunk attempt in the second half, but Nait George had far more reason to feel proud than sheepish for his performance against NC State. The sophomore dished out a career-high 12 assists, the most by a Yellow Jacket in an ACC game in 30 years. Drew Barry had 13 assists against Virginia on Jan. 22, 1995.
Stoudamire praised his team for staying in character against NC State; they’ll need to avoid getting sucked into a pick-up run against a loose, uninhibited Miami team. Discipline doesn’t always jump off the box score, but Tech only allowed 2 points off turnovers to N.C. State on Saturday. The Wolfpack came in averaging 18.5 points off turnovers per game.
Hoops in 24#StingEm 🐝 pic.twitter.com/FKxu0ReSXv
— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) March 4, 2025
Two years in, Stoudamire admits he still hasn’t gotten used to Lance Terry’s reticence.
“I wished he talked more,” he laughed. “He’s a really quiet, reserved guy. But everything about Lance, I love.”
Tuesday marks the final home game for the College Park, Ga., native, whose stoicism has masked a myriad of injuries he’s battled throughout his senior season. It may not be the full-strength year that Terry envisioned when he opted to redshirt last season, but he still enters the week averaging a career-best 14.8 points per game.
Beyond scoring, it’s the intangibles that Stoudamire says he’ll miss the most about his stone-faced senior.
“He’s leading our team in about everything that counts off the floor in terms of being our spiritual leader, our quiet leader,” Stoudamire said.
“He stands for everything that we stand for here at Georgia Tech.”
Terry’s breakout game as a Yellow Jacket came against Miami two years ago, when he scored a career-high 24 points in a 76-70 upset of an eventual Final Four Hurricanes team. He’ll have a chance to close the loop against a Hurricanes team that may feel like it’s been playing in quicksand on defense:
| Miami – NCAA Ranks | ||
| Category | % | NCAA Rank |
| FG% Defense | 49.70% | #352 |
| 3pt.% Defense | 39.90% | #355 (Last) |
Georgia Tech’s recent opponents haven’t exactly come in brimming with confidence. Their last three opponents have allowed 56.3%, 58.3%, and 58.9% shooting in their previous game.
That could bode well for Baye Ndongo, who has averaged 23.3 points and 15.3 rebounds over his last three home games. For a second straight game, Miami won’t have starting center Lynn Kidd (11.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg) due to a sprained ankle. The Hurricanes may opt to go small in hopes of hassling Ndongo – though Ndongo has fouled out his primary defender in each of the last two games. The Hurricanes also rank last in the ACC in defensive rebounding percentage.
He didn’t win ACC Player of the Week – neither did Ndongo, for that matter – but Duncan Powell earned Lute Olson National Player of the Week honors for his performances against Pitt and N.C. State.
The award, of course, is named for Damon Stoudamire’s former head coach at Arizona.
Stoudamire joked that he ought to quiz Powell on who Olson is. If Powell didn’t know the answer, he’d make him run as punishment.
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 6:30 p.m. ET on the Georgia Tech Sports Network. See you at McCamish.
-AD-
Emmer Nichols will also be honored tomorrow night before the game 👏#StingEm 🐝 https://t.co/3e4jiBch9G pic.twitter.com/avdbZSAzf3
— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) March 3, 2025
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.
