Tech Back on the Road to Face Notre DameTech Back on the Road to Face Notre Dame
Men's Basketball

Tech Back on the Road to Face Notre Dame

Jackets and Fighting Irish tip off at 5 p.m. EST Saturday in South Bend

Georgia Tech vs. Notre Dame

Saturday, February 26, 2022 | 5 p.m. ET | South Bend, Ind. | Purcell Pavilion

Television:  ACC Network

Play-by-Play:  Mike Monaco  |  Analyst: Randolph Childress

Radio: Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports (In Atlanta: 680 AM/93.7 The Fan | XM 385, SiriusXM app 975 | Listen Online | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets App | TuneIn

Play-by-Play: Andy Demetra  |  Analyst: Randy Waters

 

THE FLATS – Back on the road for the third time in four games, Georgia Tech travels to South Bend, Ind., for a 5 p.m. Atlantic coast Conference game Saturday at Purcell Pavilion.

Tech looks to even the season series with the Fighting Irish, which captured an 72-68, overtime victory over the Yellow Jackets on Jan. 8 in Atlanta. Though Tech and Notre Dame annually play home-and-away, the teams did not play in South Bend last season due to COVID.

Tech (11-17 overall, 4-13 ACC) dropped another close conference game Wednesday night, 62-58 to Virginia Tech at home, two nights after falling 74-73 in overtime at Syracuse. The Yellow Jackets’ last three games, including a 68-62 win at Pittsburgh last Saturday, have been decided by a total of 12 points. Tech is looking for its third road win in ACC play this season and its first ACC win over the Fighting Irish at Purcell Pavilion.

Michael Devoe (Orlando, Fla.), the reigning ACC Tournament MVP and the conference’s No. 3-leading scorer (18.52 points per game), No. 5 three-point shooter by volume (2.41 per game) and No. 4 by percentage (37.1), leads the Jackets along with senior forward Jordan Usher (Canton, Ga.), averaging 14.3 points and 6.7=6 rebounds per game.

Notre Dame (20-8 overall, 13-4 ACC) has won five of its last six games after downing Syracuse, 79-69, Wednesday night, and 16 of 19 going back to mid-December. The Fighting Irish are in second place in the ACC standings, one game behind Duke, who handed Notre Dame its only conference loss at home on Jan. 31.

Saturday’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 385, SiriusXM app 975).

THE OPENING TIP

  • NBA scheduling – The Notre dame concludes a stretch of four games in eight days for Georgia Tech, who made up a postponed game at Syracuse Monday night in between scheduled meetings at Pittsburgh and its Wednesday game against the Hokies.
  • Second chances – The Yellow Jackets are finishing 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, and the Hokies complete a sweep of the Jackets on Wednesday.
  • On the road – The Yellow Jackets are looking for their third road win in conference play after winning at Boston College Jan. 12 and Pittsburgh last Saturday. Tech has played just two home games since Feb. 5 and has only one home game left of the three remaining on the schedule. Tech is 3-6 overall in road games this season, while Notre Dame is 12-1 at home, 7-1 in ACC play.
  • Dynamic duo – Georgia Tech seniors Michael Devoe and Jordan Usher have accounted for 46.9 percent of the Yellow Jackets’ scoring this season, and as the top two assist purveyors on the team, have had a hand in 69.0 percent of Tech’s field goals made. Those numbers for ACC games are similar (45.9, 70.3). 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 (13.47 per game) and are No. 2 in steals (8.47). Tech’s last 11 ACC foes (beginning Jan. 19 vs. Wake Forest) have coughed it up 151 times (13.7 per game), 104 of them takeaways for Tech (9.5 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 28 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 (18.52 points per game). Devoe is No. 4 in the ACC in three-point percentage (37.1), No. 5 in three-point field goals per game (2.41) and No. 4 in minutes (35.23 per game). Devoe is one of only four players in Division I to average at least 18.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals this season (per Sports-Reference.com).
  • Climbing the ladder – In Tech’s last four 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 1,649 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 eight Division I players to average at least 14.3 points, 6.6 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 Jake Laravia of Wake Forest.
  • Three over a thousand – Jordan Usher cleared the 1,000-point milestone for his career Jan. 15 at North Carolina. He has 1,163 points, 889 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).
  • Rookies rising – Tech’s highly-regarded freshman class has scored 31 points over Tech’s last two games against Syracuse and totaled 98 minutes on the floor, their most extensive time as a group this season. Deebo Coleman has averaged nearly 24 minutes per game in ACC play this season, but Miles Kelly has played 33 minutes in the last two games and Jalon Moore 31.
  • Three-bo – Kick-started by a strong game against Clayton State on Jan. 23, Tech freshman Deebo Coleman has averaged 7.6 points and hit 21 of 44 shots (46.5 percent) from three-point range over Tech’s last 11 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 four of Tech’s last five games and posting a pair of double-doubles. He has averaged 13.0 points per (28-of-41 from the floor) and 7.4 rebounds, with six assists and four blocks.
  • Sturdy Sturdivant – Kyle Sturdivant has a 39:14 assist/turnover ratio over Tech’s last 15 games. The junior guard has averaged 7.3 points with four double-digit scoring efforts and seven turnover-free games over that stretch.

SERIES NOTES VS. NOTRE DAME

  • Notre Dame has won five of the last six meetings to take a 13-12 lead in the all-time series. Georgia Tech’s only win was an 82-80 win on Feb. 6, 2021 at McCamish Pavilion. The Fighting Irish had swept the regular season series in 2019-20, and had won the last two meetings of 2018-19, the final regular season contest and an ACC Tournament meeting.
  • Since Notre Dame joined the ACC, the teams have split their regular season series four times, and the Fighting Irish have swept the Yellow Jackets twice. Tech has yet to sweep the Irish.
  • The Yellow Jackets are 6-11 against Notre Dame since the Fighting Irish joined the ACC, the 17 meetings decided by a total of 88 points. Notre Dame’s 69-59 win in South Bend on Feb. 10, 2019 is the widest margin.
  • At McCamish Pavilion, Tech is 6-3 against the Irish (minus one 2017 win vacated by the NCAA), and the games have been decided by a total of 32 points.
  • Notre Dame has won all seven meetings at South Bend since the Fighting Irish became a member of the ACC.
  • Tech is 2-9 in games played in South Bend, and 1-8 in Purcell Pavilion, including an 88-80 overtime win on Feb. 24, 1990, with the Jackets headed toward an ACC title and Final Four berth later that season.
  • The Yellow Jackets won five straight meetings between the two teams from 1972 through Tech’s 74-69 victory in McCamish Pavilion on Jan. 11, 2014, the team’s first meeting as ACC foes.
  • That game and a 90-80 Tech victory in Atlanta a year earlier were the only two face-offs ever between legendary coaches Bobby Cremins and Digger Phelps.
  • All but one game in the series has been played on the two campuses, the exception being a 2007 meeting in the third-place game of the Paradise Jam. The Yellow Jackets erased a 9-point deficit in the final 5:11 and won the game on a three-point basket by Matt Causey with two seconds remaining.
  • Tech is 9-3 all-time against Notre Dame in Atlanta, three of those wins at Alexander Memorial Coliseum and six at McCamish Pavilion (the 2017 win was vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions).
  • Four of the five meetings before that were played with Whack Hyder as Tech’s head coach, and the Jackets won three of those, including an 82-62 win in 1972 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum in Phelps’ first season as the Fighting Irish head coach.

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.