By Andy Demetra | Voice of the Yellow Jackets
Like most coaches, Damon Stoudamire adheres to a strict “celebrate until midnight, then turn the page” policy following wins.
Had he followed his own protocol, his Georgia Tech players would have had, oh, roughly three minutes to savor their victory over Clemson.
Stoudamire is a man of principle. But even he knows when to make an exception.
Instead, in the early minutes of Wednesday morning, on the heels of one of its gutsiest wins in recent history, time stood still inside the visitors’ locker room at Littlejohn Coliseum. Whatever energy the Yellow Jackets still had left from their undermanned, triple-overtime upset of the Tigers, they poured it into shouts, high-fives, dances, and any other spontaneous spasm of celebration their exhausted bodies could conjure.
Sleep and recovery would come later. This was a sweat-soaked moment to enjoy.
“The last week, it’s been so special to watch them grow, to talk about things that only coaches dream about, what it’s going to take to win games,” Stoudamire said in his postgame radio interview.
Resourceful and resilient may be standard operating procedure for the Yellow Jackets moving forward. The page was eventually turned, though, and now Georgia Tech (11-12, 5-7 ACC) must avoid a repeat of what happened after its win at Littlejohn Coliseum last year, when it only beat Clemson in a mere two overtimes.
In the following game, Tech lost to Virginia.
The Cavaliers (11-12, 4-8 ACC) come up next at John Paul Jones Arena. Enjoy the top notes from my chart as the Jackets look to break an overdue drought in Charlottesville (5:30 p.m. ET, Georgia Tech Sports Network):
Tech would match its longest win streak of the season with a win Saturday. (photo by Danny Karnik)
Georgia Tech hasn’t escaped Tony Bennett just yet.
Virginia’s legendary head coach, who retired in October following 364 wins and six ACC regular season titles, was an annual tormentor of the Jackets over his 15 seasons in Charlottesville. He’ll be honored on Saturday as part of a halftime ceremony, and his presence should only supercharge a Virginia team that’s coming off its best win of the season, a 73-57 drubbing at Pittsburgh in which it shot a season-high 56 percent.
The Cavaliers still run a mover-blocker offense under interim head coach Ron Sanchez, a patient system that features constant cuts, flares and pindown screens to free up shooters. Shooting guard Isaac McKneely (13.1 ppg, 41% 3pt FG) is a fluid manipulator of screens who can catch a heater like few players in the ACC. Guard Andrew Rohde has dished out 24 assists and 1 turnover in his last four games. Senior guard Taine Murray has made 9 of his last 12 threes. Dai Dai Ames poured in a career-high 27 points against Pitt and gives Virginia some much-needed twitch off the dribble.
After a five-game ACC losing streak, the Cavaliers are back to playing with conviction and ball movement – and they’ve done it without their second leading scorer in 6-8, 240-pound Elijah Saunders, who has missed the last three games with a foot injury.
Virginia has posted its three highest offensive efficiency ratings of the season over the last three games. Georgia Tech held Clemson, which ranked 22nd in the nation in offensive efficiency, to a season-low 36.4% from the field. Can the Jackets stay attached from Virginia’s cutters? Can they play well in gaps to recover on the Cavaliers’ three-point shooters? Can they stay disciplined late in possessions and not allow offensive rebounds? Pay attention to those areas on Saturday.
In the last four games, Georgia Tech will have faced the ACC’s top four three-point shooters.
They’ve held them to 28% from deep (7-of-25).
| ACC LEADERS – 3pt.% | ||
| Player | 3pt.% | vs. Georgia Tech |
| Chase Hunter (CLEM) | 43.80% | 4-12 |
| Isaac McKneely (UVA) | 41.50% | ? |
| Reyne Smith (LOU) | 39.50% | 1-6 |
| Braeden Shrewsberry (ND) | 36.70% | 2-7 |
McKneely has only gone 4-for-15 over his last two games, but he’s cooked the Jackets for 59% three-point shooting during his career (13-of-22). At 37.6%, the Cavaliers rank 33rd nationally in three-point percentage.
As a sophomore in high school, Baye Ndongo’s head coach at the Darrow School in New Lebanon, N.Y., was former Virginia center Assane Sene, like Ndongo a native of the Senegal.
Stoudamire said his sophomore is “getting his pop back,” and his rebounding numbers have started to reflect that:
Baye Ndongo – Rebounds per game (ACC)
- First 6 games: 3 rpg
- Last 6 games: 7 rpg
Ndongo put together two solid performances against Virginia last year, averaging 18.0 points and 7.0 rebounds on 73.7% field goal shooting. He’ll duel against 6-11 sophomore Blake Buchanan, who posted a double-double against Pitt, and 6-10, 250-pound redshirt freshman Anthony Robinson, who added a season-high 9 points and 6 rebounds against the Panthers.
A native of Peachtree City, Ga., Robinson is the son of former Georgia Tech defensive tackle Tony Robinson (1997-00). Tony played in Tech’s largest come-from-behind win in school history, when the Jackets rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat… Virginia.
Baye Ndongo (11) has averaged 10.7 rebounds over Tech’s last seven games. ([hoto by Brandon Spearman)
Georgia Tech threw Louisville a curveball when it switched on nearly every ball screen, a tactic even Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey admitted caught his team off guard.
Virginia has employed a similar strategy over the last game-and-a-half, veering away from its customary hard hedges in favor of more straight-up switches. The Cavaliers still play through their Pack Line principles – clogging paints, forcing inert passes – but those switches have given them new juice on defense.
Can the Jackets still find ways to break down the Cavaliers if they continue to switch? Pay attention to this barometer.
When Virginia forces teams into less than 1.00 point per possession, they’re 8-2.
When they don’t, they’re 3-9.
If the Yellow Jackets need directions in Charlottesville, they can always bypass GPS and use Dyllan Thompson instead.
Thompson is the son of WNBA legend Tina Thompson, who served as head coach of the Virginia women’s team from 2018-22. Dyllan lived in Charlottesville from 7th through 10th grade.
Now that we’re prepared, we hope you are as well. Join us for pregame coverage starting with the “Ramblin’ Wreck Tipoff Show” at 5:00 p.m. ET on the Georgia Tech Sports Network. See you in Charlottesville.
-AD-
Tech freshman Dyllan Thompson lived in Charlottesville from 7th through 10th grade. (photo by Max Hamlin)
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.
