Josh Okogie’s layup at the buzzer gave Georgia Tech a 62-60 win over Notre Dame in 2016. The nine games between the two teams at McCamish Pavilion have been decided by a total of 26 points. (photo by Danny Karnik)
Wednesday’s game marks the final scheduled meeting against Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey, who announced last month that he’d be stepping down after 23 seasons as Irish head coach. Brey and Pastner have always enjoyed a congenial relationship, bonded by their good nature and self-deprecating humor.
Asked for his favorite Brey anecdote on his radio show Monday night, Pastner thought back to the ACC basketball coaches’ meeting last summer in Amelia Island, Fla. Dan Gavitt, the senior vice-president of basketball at the NCAA, was there to explain the NET rankings and the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s thought process from last season. He mentioned to the group that if Texas A&M had beaten Tennessee at the SEC Tournament, Notre Dame would have been left out of the NCAA Tournament. The Irish finished in second place in the ACC at 15-5.
Recalled a teetotaling Pastner: “Mike Brey stopped and he says, ‘Dan, I need to leave the meeting right now and go get a drink.’ And this is about nine in the morning. And he walked right out of the room in the meeting and said, ‘Where do you get the vodka?’ He left for about 15 minutes.” He returned, Pastner said, after he realized no place at the hotel was selling alcohol that early in the morning.
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Pastner and Brey’s coaching styles have also made for some white-knuckle theatre: Brey’s seven career losses against Georgia Tech have come by a combined 20 points.
Notre Dame’s guards move well without the ball, and despite their record, they’re still capable of scoring in waves. Six-foot-6 super-senior Dane Goodwin (11.8 ppg), who scored a team-high 19 points against Tech in South Bend, is tough on the block and effective in the middle of zones. He may look to ignite his offense early after a 2-for-12 shooting performance against Wake Forest on Saturday. Six-foot-10 stretch-five Nate Laszewski (14.1 ppg) can free himself on pick-and-pops and pick-and-slips, while freshman J.J. Starling (12.3 ppg) has the best burst off the bounce.
Georgia Tech will have to stay disciplined against the pump fakes and pivots the Irish’s guards like to use. Laszewski drew six fouls when they played last month, but Tech’s guards did a commendable job fronting the post when they switched on him (Tech played man-to-man the entire game). Georgia Tech’s best defense may also be ball security: Notre Dame ranks 358th in turnover rate defense, but its 18 points off turnovers against Tech were a season high.
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Kyle Sturdivant whipped a pass to Miles Kelly curling toward the top of the key, a classic “roll-and-replace” action found in almost every playbook. Kelly caught the ball unguarded and unencumbered, at the highest-percentage spot behind the three-point line. Tech led NC State by one with 3:00 remaining.
Though locked in the moment, Pastner could hear the dread echoing down the sideline.
“When we got that open, I heard Kevin [Keatts] say, ‘Oh —–,’ and I won’t say the word because I don’t curse,” Josh Pastner told me in our postgame radio interview.
But Kelly’s shot drifted wide and missed the rim altogether. Instead of a four-point lead and PNC Arena getting palpably nervous, Georgia Tech still only led by one.
Whether to extend a lead, cut into a deficit, or simply swing momentum, those three-point shots – clean, quality, but ultimately off the mark – have been all too common in the second half during Georgia Tech’s losing streak.
| Last 8 games |
3pt.% |
| 1st Half |
34.4% (72 of 209) |
| 2nd Half/OT |
21.3% (23 of 108) |
Notre Dame connected on just 4-of-21 three-pointers against Wake Forest, but the Irish won’t be deterred – in the vast majority of their lineup combinations, all five players are capable of launching from deep. Guard Cormac Ryan has a clinically quick release, while Trey Wertz made some clutch threes against the Jackets in South Bend. Against a team that shoots a three on 43 percent of its field goal attempts, Georgia Tech can’t afford a lull from deep.
