Georgia Tech vs. Virginia Tech
Wednesday, February 23, 2022 | 9 p.m. ET | Atlanta, Ga. | McCamish Pavilion
Television: ACC Network
Play-by-Play: Anish Shroff | Analyst: Jordan Cornette
Radio: Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports (In Atlanta: 680 AM/93.7 The Fan | XM 384, SiriusXM app 974 | Listen Online | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets App | TuneIn
Play-by-Play: Andy Demetra | Analyst: Randy Waters
Yellow Jacket nation only 2 home games left, and one of them is tomorrow when we host Virginia Tech!#TogetherWeSwarm pic.twitter.com/meIgPDTF55
— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) February 22, 2022
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech returns to Atlanta to play its third game in five days, hosting Virginia Tech at 9 p.m. Wednesday night at McCamish Pavilion, lookng to even the season series with the Hokies, which captured an 81-66 victory over the Yellow Jackets on Feb. 2 in Blacksburg.
Tech (11-16 overall, 4-12 ACC) dropped a 74-73 overtime heartbreaker Monday night at Syracuse, unable to score back-to-back road wins following its 68-62 win at Pittsburgh Saturday. The Jackets, who have defeated Clemson and Florida State at home, as well as Boston College on the road, look once again to escape the bottom of the ACC standings, where they are tied with Clemson and NC State.
Michael Devoe (Orlando, Fla.), the reigning ACC Tournament MVP and the conference’s No. 3-leading scorer (18.72 points per game), No. 5 three-point shooter by volume (2.50 per game) and No. 3 by percentage (37.3), leads the Jackets along with senior forward Jordan Usher (Canton, Ga.), averaging 14.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
Virginia Tech (16-11 overall, 8-8 ACC) saw its six-game winning streak snapped Saturday with a 65-57 homecourt loss to North Carolina. The Hokies, who remain solidly in the middle of the pack in the ACC standings, defeated Virginia, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Georgia at home during their six-game streak, as well as Florida State and Pitt on the road.
Wednesday’s game will be televised live on the ACC Network, with a live stream available through the ESPN app. Radio coverage will be on the Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports and flagship station WCNN (680/93.7 the Fan), and on satellite radio (XM channel 371, SiriusXM app 371).
It may have been a tough loss for @GTMBB, but Rodney Howard with the absolute poster! 😱😱😱#MustSeeACC pic.twitter.com/PpSlU21ocT
— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) February 22, 2022
THE OPENING TIP
- NBA scheduling – The Virginia Tech game concludes a stretch of three games in five days for Georgia Tech, who made up a postponed game at Syracuse Monday night in between scheduled meetings at Pittsburgh and the Wednesday game against the Hokies.
- Second chances – The Yellow Jackets finish the regular season with rematches against Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Clemson and Boston College. Tech went 2-2 against those teams the first time around.
- At home – Wednesday’s game is Georgia Tech’s only home game in a five-game stretch that began with road games at Pitt and Syracuse and continues with road trips to Notre Dame Saturday and Clemson next Wednesday. It is only the Jackets’ second home game since Feb. 5. Tech is 8-8 at home this season, 2-6 in conference games. The Hokies are 5-5 on the road, 3-4 in conference road games.
- Dynamic duo – Georgia Tech seniors Michael Devoe and Jordan Usher have accounted for 46.7 percent of the Yellow Jackets’ scoring this season, and as the top two assist purveyors on the team, have had a hand in 68.9 percent of Tech’s field goals made. Those numbers for ACC games are similar (45.6, 70.1). In Tech’s 11 wins, however, they account for just 41.9 percent of the Jackets’ points; in Tech’s four ACC wins: 37.5 percent.
- Grand theft basketball – The Jackets are third in the ACC in turnovers forced against conference opponents (13.50 per game) and are No. 2 in steals (8.50). Tech’s last 10 ACC foes (beginning Jan. 19 vs. Wake Forest) have coughed it up 138 times (13.8 per game), 97 of them takeaways for Tech (9.7 per game).
- Eight lineups – Tech has utilized eight different starting lineups this season, and Jordan Usher and Khalid Moore are the only players to start all 27 games. Tech’s most frequent lineup has been the original one (Michael Devoe and Kyle Sturdivant at the guards, Jordan Usher and Khalid Moore at the forwards, Rodney Howard at center), which the Jackets used for six of the first eight games and the last six before Virginia.
- Iron Mike – Senior guard Michael Devoe fell from the top spot in the ACC in scoring average for the first time this season after Tech’s game at at Boston College, but has held steady as the league’s No. 3 scorer since when (18.53 points per game). Devoe is No. 3 in the ACC in three-point percentage (37.6), No. 5 in three-point field goals per game (2.50) and No. 3 in minutes (35.26 per game). Devoe is one of only six players in Division I to average at least 18.53 points, 4.76 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.38 steals this season.
- Climbing the ladder – In Tech’s last three games, Michael Devoe has passed Georgia Tech legends John Salley (1,587 from 1982-86), Bruce Dalrymple (1,588 from 1983-87), B.J. Elder (1,616 from 2001-05) and Roger Kaiser (1,628 from 1958-61) on the program’s career scoring chart, reaching 13th place with 1,631 points. Next on the list is point guard Tony Akins, who scored 1,658 points from 1998-2002 and holds 12th place.
- House of Usher – Jordan Usher is one of only seven Division I players to average at least 14.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.4 steals this season (per Sports-Reference.com). Only two of those seven play for a power conference team – Usher and Dereon Seabron of NC State. Seabron is the only non-senior on the list.
- Three over a thousand – Jordan Usher cleared the 1,000-point milestone for his career Jan. 15 at North Carolina. He has 1,152 points, 878 of them scored in a Tech uniform, giving Tech three 1,000-point scorers on its roster, including Michael Devoe (1,595) and Bubba Parham (1,452).
- Three-bo – Kick-started by a strong game against Clayton State on Jan. 23, Tech freshman Deebo Coleman has averaged 7.8 points and hit 20 of 43 shots (46.5 percent) from three-point range over Tech’s last 10 games.
- Rad Rodney – Center Rodney Howard has put together his best basketball this season in Tech’s last four games, scoring in double digits in all four and posting a pair of double-doubles. He has averaged 14.3 points per (25-of-36 from the floor) and 8.3 rebounds, with six assists and four blocks.
- Sturdy Sturdivant – Kyle Sturdivant has a 38:14 assist/turnover ratio over Tech’s last 14 games. The junior guard has averaged 7.3 points with four double-digit scoring efforts and six turnover-free games over that stretch.
Lot of fight left 💪#TogetherWeSwarm pic.twitter.com/Arz8aRbx5e
— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) February 22, 2022
SERIES NOTES VS. VIRGINIA TECH
- Virginia Tech has won 21 of 29 all-time meetings with Georgia Tech, including 17 of 24 as a member of the ACC. The Hokies won the first meeting between the two teams in 2021-22, an 81-66 victory on Feb. 2 in Blacksburg.
- Georgia Tech has won two of the last three meetings, capturing a 69-53 victory in Blacksburg in the teams’ only scheduled meeting of the 2020-21 season, The Jackets also took a 76-57 victory in Atlanta in the teams’ only scheduled meeting of the 2019-20 season, snapping a six-game losing streak in the series and matching its largest margin of victory in the series.
- Tech has won only twice in 13 trips to Cassell Coliseum, including a 64-54 win on Feb. 9, 2013.
- Tech has defeated Virginia Tech only four times in 12 meetings at home since the Hokies joined the ACC, and the Yellow Jackets received extroardinary performances by individuals to win two of those games. On Jan. 19, 2008, reserve guard Matt Causey came off the bench to hit seven threes and pour in 30 points in the Jackets’ 81-70 victory. On Jan. 25, 2011, Iman Shumpert recorded the fourth triple-double in Tech history with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in the Jackets’ 72-57 win.
- The Hokies, led by future NBA star Dell Curry, held off the Jackets and their future All-Americans Mark Price and John Salley, 77-74, in the teams’ first meeting, a first-round post-season NIT game, at Cassell Coliseum in 1984.
- The teams have split two ACC Tournament encounters, the Jackets capturing a 73-54 victory in the first round of the 2005 tournament in Washington, D.C., and the Hokies winning a 59-43 decision in the first round in 2011 in Greensboro.
- Georgia Tech’s first victory over Virginia Tech occurred on Dec. 27, 1962, a 73-72 overtime triumph at the Gator Bowl Tournament that was part of an 11-0 start for the Yellow Jackets. Tech went on to finish the season 21-5. That remains the only meeting between the two teams when both were ranked in the nation’s top 25.
- Both teams were members of the old Metro Conference, but not at the same time. Georgia Tech was a member for three seasons from 1975-76 through 1977-78 before leaving to join the ACC. Virginia Tech joined the league for the 1978-79 season.
Proud of @Callmeush being 1 of 2 power conference players avg at least:
✅14.3 points
✅6.7 rebounds
✅2.7 assists
✅1.4 steals#TogetherWeSwarm pic.twitter.com/38zfDCcMic— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) February 22, 2022
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship in 2021 after finishing fourth in the regular season. Tech has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, winning four ACC Championships (1985, 1990, 1993, 2021), playing in the NCAA Tournament 17 times and playing in two Final Fours (1990, 2004). Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball on social media by liking their Facebook Page, or following on Twitter (@GTMBB) and Instagram. For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
