Tech Returns Home to Host Boston College

GEORGIA TECH (8-5, 1-1 ACC) vs. BOSTON COLLEGE (9-4, 0-2 ACC)

Saturday, January 5, 2024 | 4 p.m. EST | Atlanta, Ga. | McCamish Pavilion

• Television:  ESPN2  (Announcers:  Anish Shroff, Dan Bonner)
• Radio: Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports (In Atlanta: 680 AM/93.7 The Fan) | SiriusXM channel 377
• Other ways to listen:  SiriusXM app | Listen Online | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets App | TuneIn
• Announcers: Andy Demetra, Randy Waters
• Live Stats:  Statbroadcast.com

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THE FLATS – Playing its first game at home in 28 days, Georgia Tech continues its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule at 4 p.m. EST Saturday afternoon against Boston College at McCamish Pavilion.

Saturday’s game is the midpoint of a three-game-in-seven-day stretch for Tech (8-5, 1-1 ACC), which has lost its last two games, an 82-71 decision on the road Wednesday at Florida State and a 72-64 defeat against Nevada in the championship game of the Diamond Head Classic. The Yellow Jackets had won four in a row prior to that, including victories over Massachusetts (73-70) and host Hawai’i (73-68) to reach the championship game in Honolulu.

Boston College (9-4, 0-2 ACC) is playing its first ACC road game of the season. The Eagles have lost their first two conference games by identical 84-78 scores to NC State and Wake Forest, both at home. The loss to Wake came Tuesday night and ended a four-game winning streak for BC.

Saturday’s game will be televised live on ESPN2 with a live stream 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). The Tech broadcast is also available on SiriusXM channel 387 and the SiriusXM app.

THE TIP-OFF

• A win Saturday would improve Georgia Tech’s record to 6-1 at home this season.
• Tech has won its last five games against Boston College dating back to an 87-77 loss in the 2018 ACC Tournament. Tech has won three straight against the Eagles at home, dating back to a 64-62 loss in January of 2015.
• Tech went 27 calendar days between home games, the most for the Yellow Jackets since the 1986-87 season, when they went 43 calendar days between home games (Dec. 1 vs. Penn to Jan. 14 vs. North Carolina A&T). The Jackets played five straight games away from home, a stretch that included trips to New York Dec. 16 to play Penn State at Madison Square Garden, and to Honolulu, Hawai’i to compete in the Diamond Head Classic, Dec. 21-24.
• Tech saw its NCAA NET ranking leap from No. 162 following its loss to Georgia on Dec. 5 to No. 110 after its runner-up finish in the Diamond Head Classic. Tech’s NET ranking is now No. 123.
• Tech concluded its non-conference schedule 7-4 against a slate that included six teams that won 20 or more games in the 2022-23 season, four of them post-season teams. Tech’s four non-conference losses came to teams that currently have a combined record of 43-10.
• Tech is 3-4 against Quad 1 and Quad 2 teams this season, with a Quad 1 win over Duke and Quad 2 wins over Mississippi State and Massachusetts. The Jackets have 10 Quad 1 and four Quad 2 opponents remaining on its schedule. Tech was 3-14 last season against Quad 1/2 foes.
• Freshman forward Baye Ndongo has won the ACC’s Rookie of the Week honor three times this season (Dec. 2, Dec. 18, Dec. 26), most for a Yellow Jacket since current NBA star Josh Okogie did so during the 2016-17 season.
• Tech has started two freshmen – Ndongo and point guard Naithan George – in its last nine games, winning six of them. The Jackets have not had two freshmen in its regular starting lineup since the 2018-19 season (Michael Devoe, Khalid Moore), and have not had a freshman regularly start at point guard since Jose Alvarado in 2017-18.
• Miles Kelly, Tech’s leading scorer in 2022-23 at 14.4 points per game, is Tech’s leading scorer again this season at 15.2 points per game. The junior guard leads three Jackets averaging in double figures with junior guard Kowacie Reeves, Jr., (12.2 ppg) and freshman forward Baye Ndongo (11.7 ppg). Five other Jackets average between 4.8 and 7.8 points per game.
• Tech’s returning scholarship players – Kelly, Dallan “Deebo” Coleman and Kyle Sturdivant – have accounted for 42.6 percent of Tech’s points this season. That number has diminished somewhat as freshmen Baye Ndongo and Naithan George and sophomore transfer Tafara Gapare have taken on greater loads.
• Senior guard Lance Terry, Tech’s second-leading scorer last season, has elected to red-shirt after missing the season’s first nine games, as well as pre-season practice, with a leg injury. He has been cleared to practice.

SERIES VS. BOSTON COLLEGE

• Georgia Tech has won the last five meetings with Boston College, dating back to an 81-78 win at home at the end of the 2018-19 season, and leads the all-time series, 19-12 (one win vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions). The one scheduled meeting in 2020-21 in Atlanta was not played due to COVID-19.
• The teams have played to overtime six times in the series, including three of the last seven meetings and five times since the Eagles joined the ACC.
• Twelve of the games in the short series have been decided by less than 10 points, 14 of them by four points or less, and five in overtime.
• Tech is 8-2 against the Eagles at home, 4-1 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, 1-0 at State Farm Arena and 3-1 at McCamish Pavilion.
• Tech has played BC at three different venues in the Boston area. The Jan. 29, 2005 game was Tech’s first visit to the Conte Forum, BC’s current home court, where the Jackets are 6-6, and have won the last three games in the building.
• The first game in the series on Dec. 31, 1946, was played at Boston Arena, and the teams also played in the Boston Garden on Jan. 19, 1980.
• Prior to BC’s entry into the ACC, the teams met four times on neutral floors, including one outside the United States, a 65-62 overtime win for the Yellow Jackets in the 1986 Suntory Ball in Tokyo, Japan.
• The teams have met twice in NCAA Tournament competition, both of them won by Tech. The Yellow Jackets downed the Eagles, 103-89, in the 1996 Southeast Regional second round in Orlando, and eliminated the Eagles, 57-54 in a 2004 second-round game in Milwaukee.

TEAM TRENDS

• Georgia Tech utilized its fifth different starting lineup this season at Florida State with freshman forward Ibrahima Sacko making his first collegiate start.
• Tech is 3-4 against Quad 1 and Quad 2 teams this season (UMass was a Quad 2 win, while Nevada was a Quad 1 opportunity). The Jackets’ remaining ACC schedule has eight Quad 1 and four Quad 2 opponents. Tech was 3-14 last season against Quad 1/2 foes.
• Tech is 6-3 since freshmen Baye Ndongo and Naithan George entered the starting lineup Nov. 28 against Mississippi State.
• Tech has outrebounded nine of 13 opponents and tied one this season, but has been outrebounded in its last two games (Nevada and Florida State. For the season, Tech has a plus-5.5 rebounding margin and entered the game No. 3 in the ACC, No. 67 nationally.
• Tech has averaged fewer than 10 turnovers (9 each vs. Hawai’i and Nevada, 10 FSU) in its last three games, after averaging more than 19 in the three games prior.
• Tech remains one of the nation’s better offensive rebounding teams this season, grabbing 14 against Florida State and averaging 14.3 per game. The Jackets lead the ACC in that category and ranked 24th-best nationally. Tech ranks No. 2 in the ACC in total rebounds per game and is No. 26 nationally.
• Tech has not connected on more than 30.4 percent of its threes in any one game (26.9 pct. vs. FSU) since going 13-for-29 in its 2023-24 opener against Georgia Southern. The Jackets have connected on 28.3 percent this season from beyond the arc.
• Miles Kelly and Kowacie Reeves, Jr., are the only Tech players to start every game this season.
• At least nine players have seen the court in 12 of Tech’s first 13 games (only eight played against Hawai’i). Eleven players average more than minutes per game.
• Tech has been disruptive to opponents on the defensive end, limiting opponents to 41.9 percent assists-to-made field goals, which ranks No. 17 nationally, and also ranks 49th in block percentage at 12.3 (blocked shots/opponent 2-pt FGA).

PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS

• Kowacie Reeves, Jr., has scored in double digits in eight of Tech’s 13 games, and his 18 points against FSU were his second-most this season behind a 20-point effort Dec. 9 against Alabama A&M. His three three-point field goals were his most since going 4-for-5 Dec. 2 against Duke.
• Reeves has hit 44.3 percent of his shots from the floor, a team-best 38.5 percent from three-point range and 83.3 percent from the foul line. He is Tech’s No. 2 scorer at 12.2 points per game.
• Miles Kelly scored a game-high 20 points against FSU for his highest output since Nov. 28 against Mississippi State (22 points). He remains Tech’s top scorer at 15.2 points per game.
• Kelly leads Tech in getting to the free throw line, attempting 72 foul shots this season after trying 59 all of 2022-23.
• Kelly grabbed six more rebounds against FSU and averages 6.0 this season, second on the team. Kelly averaged just 2.5 rebounds per game over his first two seasons.
• Kelly surpassed 800 career points at Florida State with his 20-point game. He now has 808 career points.
• Freshman Baye Ndongo came up one rebound shy of his third double-double this season, scoring 10 points with nine rebounds against Florida State.
• Ndongo is Tech’s leader in rebound average (9.1 rpg), field goal percentage (62.0 pct.) and blocked shots (16 total). He has averaged 11.2 rebounds over his last five games.
• Freshman Naithan George has started Tech’s last nine games at the point guard position and has averaged 7.4 points and 4.4 assists in those games. He had eight dimes each against Alabama A&M and Penn State, and nine vs. Duke.
• George and senior Kyle Sturdivant had eight assists and just one turnover combined against FSU. For the season the point guard combo has 80 assists (40 each) vs. 40 turnovers, a 2-to-1 ratio.

Freshman Baye Ndongo is Tech’s top rebounder at 9.1 per game and ranks No. 2 nationally among freshmen. (photo by Ross Obley)

 

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