By Andy Demetra | Voice of the Yellow Jackets
Their legs back, their lessons learned, Georgia Tech (11-13, 2-9 ACC) has returned home from California (with an unexpected flight diversion to Tulsa, Okla., thrown in), ready to turn their disappointment into determination.
The Yellow Jackets hope a couple of hard practices have restored the edge they’ll need to get past the frustration of losses to Cal and Stanford. More importantly, they’ll need that edge to get past a team that itself will be playing with plenty of urgency. Wake Forest (11-12, 2-8 ACC), Georgia Tech’s next opponent at McCamish Pavilion, has dropped five straight after an upset bid unraveled late against No. 24 Louisville.
Don’t let the late night or conference records fool you. The intensity will be flowing at 10th and Fowler tonight.
Enjoy the top notes from my chart as Tech looks to tame the Demon Deacons and make a long overdue return to the win column (9:00 p.m. ET, Georgia Tech Sports Network).
Kam Craft scored a career-high 40 points at Miami (Ohio) on this date last season. (photo by Danny Karnik)
Georgia Tech undeniably has some ground to gain in the ACC standings, but to blame the Yellow Jackets’ conference record on inaccurate three-point shooting would be – well, inaccurate. In fact, Georgia Tech is shooting its highest percentage from three-point range in ACC play since 2009-10.
Highest 3pt.% ACC – Last 25 years
- 4% 2005-06
- 8% 2003-04
- 6% 2001-02
- 5% 2009-10
- 5% 2025-26
That number is tempered somewhat by Georgia Tech’s low three-point volume. They now face a Wake Forest team that forces a three on 47% of opponents’ attempts, a number that ranks 355th nationally.
Three-Point Rate NCAA Rank
Georgia Tech Offense 31.1% #339
Wake Forest Defense 47.4% #355
To put that in perspective: The lowest Three-Point Rate Wake Forest has allowed in a game all season is 33.3%.
The Demon Deacons played a healthy amount of drop coverage against Tech last year, and they lean into analytics as heavily as any team in the ACC – i.e., sagging off sharply on players they don’t deem threats from outside. Don’t mistake that for passive, though. Wake Forest also leads the ACC in Turnover Rate (19.9%), a potential tripwire for a Tech team that has struggled to win the turnover battle this year.
The numbers suggest three-pointers will be available against Wake. Can Tech have the discipline to take the right threes? Pay attention to that game within the game Wednesday. And if you believe in destiny, pay attention to Kam Craft as well. Wednesday marks the anniversary of his career-high 40-point performance against Toledo in which he knocked down 9-of-14 from three-point range.
Eric Chatfield Jr. saw came off the bench at Stanford for his first ACC appearance this season. (photo by Grayson Rosen)
A new player has entered the “Chat.”
Appearing in an ACC game for the first time this season, freshman Eric Chatfield Jr. – known universally by his teammates as “Chat” – provided a spark with 8 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist against Stanford. Even with leading scorer Kowacie Reeves Jr. expected to return against Wake Forest, head coach Damon Stoudamire said the Atlanta, Ga., native will continue to see minutes off the Jackets’ bench.
About that last part. Though he’s listed from Atlanta, Chatfield was actually born in Istanbul, Türkiye, where his dad, Eric Sr., was playing professional basketball at the time. He spent the first several years of his life in Paris, France, before his father retired and relocated the family to Atlanta.
After facing Cal’s Dai Dai Ames and Stanford’s Ebuka Okorie in consecutive games, Georgia Tech will have to contend with yet another high-wattage scorer on Wednesday.
Wake Forest’s Juke Harris (21.1 ppg, 36.1% 3pt.) ranks third in the ACC in scoring and blistered Louisville and NC State for a combined 56 points last week. Unlike Ames and Okorie, the 6-7, 200-pound sophomore operates more as a wing, where he generates his looks by getting downhill on dribble handoffs or slipping out on catch-and-shoots. Like Ames and Okorie, he also has a preternatural knack for racking up free throws.
The Demon Deacons are at their best when they emphasize paint touches, kick out, and swing to get defenses in rotation. 6-5 Myles Colvin (12.4 ppg) complements Harris as an athletic, straight line driver, while 6-7 Tre’Von Spillers (11.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg) gives them a bouncy, forceful rebounder. Georgia Tech will need to be sharp in defensive transition – Wake Forest will likely use turnovers to activate its athleticism in the open floor. Can they also make Harris and Colvin see crowds on dribble drives? And can they win the battle of 50-50 balls, something Wake head coach Steve Forbes has lamented in his team this season?
Akai Fleming dropped back-to-back 19-point games in the Golden State. (photo by Grayson Rosen)
Akai Fleming jumped on the viral “19” trend in his own way last week, recording 19 points in back-to-back games against Cal and Stanford. That included 5 of 9 shooting from three-point range; Fleming was only 4 of 18 in ACC play coming in.
“I thought he attacked. He’s a really athletic kid. I want him to become a better finisher at the rim as well,” Stoudamire said on his radio show. “It was good to see him get back to being him.”
Fleming will try to bring that scoring back to McCamish, where he’s curiously only 7 of 30 from the field in home ACC games. Among those who will be cheering for him is his dad Atibah, a native of St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., who played on the U.S. Virgin Islands Junior National Team in the mid-90’s. Fleming played in the U.S.V.I. a few years after another Virgin Islander of some renown: St. Croix native and future Wake Forest Demon Deacon Tim Duncan.
Jose Alvarado made his Madison Square Garden debut for his hometown New York Knicks on Tuesday.
Damon Stoudamire can relate – thirty years ago, he was dealt at the trade deadline to his hometown Portland Trail Blazers. Ironically, the trade involved another former Georgia Tech point guard from New York City, Kenny Anderson, who was later shipped to Boston.
When asked, Stoudamire offered a sage piece of advice to Georgia Tech’s former ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
“Just answer the phone for the people that have always been calling,” Stoudamire laughed. “That ticket count, it can get pricey.”
Now that we’re prepared, we hope you are too. Join us for pregame coverage starting with the “Ramblin’ Wreck Tip-off Show” at 8:30 p.m. ET on the Georgia Tech Sports Network. See you at McCamish.
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