Men’s Basketball Travels to Face Wake ForestMen’s Basketball Travels to Face Wake Forest
Men's Basketball

Men’s Basketball Travels to Face Wake Forest

Yellow Jackets and Demon Deacons tip off at 5 p.m. Saturday in Winston-Salem

GEORGIA TECH (9-15, 2-12 ACC) vs. WAKE FOREST (16-9, 8-6 ACC)

THE FLATS – Coming off its first Atlantic Coast Conference win in a month, Georgia Tech goes back on the road this weekend looking to make it two in a row with a 5 p.m. contest against Wake Forest at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Winston-Salem, N.C.

Tech (9-15, 2-12 ACC) snapped nine-game losing streak Wednesday night with a 70-68 home court victory over Notre Dame, evening the season series with the Fighting Irish. Tech’s only other ACC win to date came over No. 12 Miami, 76-70, on Jan. 4, and after that lost to Florida State, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, NC State, Syracuse, Clemson, Duke, Louisville and NC State, all but two by double digits. The Jackets remain in last place in the conference standings.

Wake Forest (16-9, 8-6 ACC) has won its last two games in convincing fashion, 81-64 at Notre Dame last weekend and 92-85 over North Carolina Tuesday. Those wins came on the heels of four straight losses, the last three coming by two points each. The Demon Deacons hold seventh place in the ACC, 2.5 games out of first place.

Saturday’s game will be televised live on the ACC Network, with a live stream of the broadcast available on the ESPN app. Radio coverage is on the Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports and flagship station 680 the Fan (680 AM/93.7 FM), and on satellite radio (SiriusXM channel 383, SXM app 973).

THE TIP-OFF

  • Six of Georgia Tech’s ACC games in February and March are on the road, including trips NC State, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Boston College, who are a combined 52-16 at home this season. The Yellow Jackets’ home games are against Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and Louisville, who are a combined 0-20 on the road this season.
  • Tech has won on its last two trips to the Joel Coliseum, 86-79 in 2020 and 75-63 in 2021.
  • Tech is No. 3 in the ACC in three-point defense and is 49th nationally, allowing 31.0 percent from distance.
  • Tech is No. 2 in the ACC in bench scoring, its reserves contributing 19.7 points per game this season. The bench has provided 30 or more points six times this season, and has outscored its opponents’ reserves in 13 of 24 games.
  • Tech has outshot each of its last two opponents from the floor after having done so only once in its first 12 ACC games.
  • Tech has used 11 different starting lineups this season, and no Yellow Jacket has started every game. Nine Jackets have started at least two games, and eight of them have started a minimum of nine times.
  • Sophomore guard Miles Kelly leads Tech in scoring, minutes, field goals made and attempted, three-point field goals made and attempted, and free throw percentage.
  • Senior guard Lance Terry, who returned from a four-game absence (hamstring) Feb. 4 against NC State, has scored 29 points and played all for 1:46 of the possible 80 minutes in Tech’s last two games against the Wolfpack and Notre Dame. During Terry’s absence, Tech averaged 53.8 points and connected on 34.5 percent of its field goals, 25.2 percent of its threes across those four games, but improved to 67 points per game, 44.5 percent from the floor and 16-of-45 (35.6 pct.) from three since his return.
  • Senior point guard Kyle Sturdivant has scored in double digits in Tech’s last three games, a first for his career, averaging 14.0 points against Louisville, NC State and Notre Dame.
  • Center Ja’von Franklin has averaged 16 points and 8.5 rebounds in the Yellow Jackets’ last two games.
  • Point guard Deivon Smith is one of 12 ACC players to have a 20-percent defensive rebound rate, according to KenPom. At 6-foot-1, Smith is the shortest of the 12 by five inches and is the only guard.

SERIES VS. WAKE FOREST

  • Georgia Tech has a 46-41 lead in the all-time series and a 45-39 lead in games played since it became a member of the ACC. That is the best winning percentage that the Yellow Jackets have against any of the pre-2005 expansion members of the conference.
  • Tech has won 11 of the last 15 meetings between the two teams, capturing five in a row before Wake Forest defeated the Yellow Jackets in their only scheduled meeting of the 2021-22 season, 80-64 at McCamish Pavilion.
  • Tech made a sweep of the season series in 2010-11, setting school records in each game for margin of victory in an ACC game (74-39 at home on Jan. 19) and for margin of victory in an ACC road game (80-54 on Mar. 3, broken in 2021). The Jackets also swept the Demon Deacons in 2012-13.
  • Tech has won its last two games at the Joel Coliseum, and has one of its better records in an opponent’s building at 10-20. Tech is 14-27 against Wake Forest on the road, including a 2-3 mark in regular-season games played in Greensboro and a 2-4 mark in games played in Winston-Salem prior to the opening of Joel Coliseum.
  • Tech is 43-30 against Wake Forest since 1985, including 12 straight victories from 1985-91.
  • Tech is 5-3 against Wake Forest under Josh Pastner. Demon Deacons’ coach Steve Forbes is 2-2 against the Jackets, having led his East Tennessee State team to a 69-68 victory over the Jackets in Atlanta during his first season with the Buccaneers on Nov. 15, 2015.

TEAM TRENDS

  • Only eight Tech players saw court time against Notre Dame, the eighth time this season the Yellow Jackets have used as few as eight players. They totaled 52:40 of the 200 minutes, and Tech’s bench outscored its opponent (8-2) for the 13th time in 24 games. Tech ranks No. 102 in the nation this season in bench minutes (34.1 pct.), and only one other Josh Pastner Tech team has seen its reserves play more.
  • Tech has averaged 24.1 three-point attempts in ACC games, trying at least 20 in every game except Virginia (16).
  • Four Tech players have scored in double digits 11 times this season against Notre Dame. The Jackets are 8-3 in those games.
  • Tech’s 45-percent field goal accuracy against Notre Dame was its highest against an ACC opponent this season. The Jackets have exceeded that mark in only four games (Clayton State, North Alabama, Georgia, Alabama State).
  • Tech outshot an opponent from the floor for the second straight game – 45 percent to Notre Dame’s 41.1 after outshooting NC State 44.1 to 41.9 pct.). The Jackets have outshot only one other ACC foe, in their first ACC win over Miami on Jan. 4. Tech is 1-14 this season when the opponent makes a higher percentage of its field goal attempts, 8-1 when it has a better percentage.
  • Tech is 7-1 this season when scoring 70 or more points (2-1 in the ACC), 2-14 when failing to reach 70. The Jackets have reached 70 points in ACC play only against Miami and Notre Dame (both meetings).
  • Tech went 8-for-12 from the foul line against Notre Dame and has hit just 45-of-70 (64.3 pct.) over its last eight games. The Jackets have scored 14.4 percent of their points from the foul line this season, 12.3 percent in ACC games.
  • Tech has assisted on 55.6 percent of their field goals in ACC games, fourth-best in the ACC.
  • Tech has turned the ball over fewer than 10 times in six games (9 vs. Notre Dame).
  • Tech has scored more paint points than its opponent only three times in ACC play, in both meetings against Notre Dame and in its first meeting with NC State on Jan. 17.

PLAYER UPDATES

  • Lance Terry has led Tech in scoring four times this season, including both of the Yellow Jackets’ ACC wins – 24 points against Miami and 19 vs. Notre Dame. He played the full 40 minutes in each game.
  • In two games since returning from his hamstring injury, which kept him out of four games, Terry has played all but 78:14 of the 80 possible minutes, scored 29 points, hit 12-of-24 shots from the floor and 4-of-10 from three-point range.
  • Terry has scored in double figures in four ACC games, eight games altogether.
  • Center Ja’von Franklin came up one rebound shy of his fourth double-double this season, finishing with 16 points, nine boards, three assists and one blocked shot.
  • Franklin has blocked nine shots in his last three games and ranks fifth in the ACC at 1.57 per game.
  • Franklin has averaged 11.6 points and 7.2 rebounds over Tech’s last five games, hitting 25-of-42 from the floor in that stretch. In the last two games, he has scored 32 points (13-of-22 FG) and taken 17 rebounds with eight assists and six blocks.
  • Kyle Sturdivant has scored in double digits in three straight games, the first time in his college career he has done so. The senior has averaged 14 points over that stretch (17 at Louisville, 13 at NC State, 12 vs. Notre Dame), playing more than 34 minutes in each game. Across the three games, he has hit 15-of-36 shots from the floor, 7-of-20 from three-point range, dished eight assists and grabbed 11 rebounds.
  • Deivon Smith has committed zero turnovers in three straight games and in nine games altogether this season. He has seven assists and no turnovers against Notre Dame, improving his assist/turnover ratio to 2.8-to-1, second-best in the ACC and No. 22 nationally (he was 1-to-1 last season).
  • Smith also scored eight points with nine rebounds against the Fighting Irish, just missing his fourth double-digit rebound game this season.

 

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 has completed six seasons under head coach Josh Pastner, winning the Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 2021 and making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 11 years. 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 Twitter (@GTMBB) and Instagram. For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com.