Men’s Basketball Hosts No. 18 CincinnatiMen’s Basketball Hosts No. 18 Cincinnati
Men's Basketball

Men’s Basketball Hosts No. 18 Cincinnati

Yellow Jackets and Bearcats tip off at 2 p.m. EST Saturday at McCamish Pavilion

GEORGIA TECH (2-2, 0-0 ACC) vs. CINCINNATI (4-0, 0-0 Big 12)

 

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech continues its season-opening homestand Saturday afternoon, taking on its first nationally-ranked team of the season in No. 18 Cincinnati at 2 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta.

Tech, looking to improve upon a 14-18 mark in Damon Stoudamire’s first season as head coach on The Flats, comes into the contest with a 2-2 record, having defeated West Georgia (85-62) and Texas Southern (81-62), while taking a 105-93 loss to North Florida and a 77-69 defeat to Georgia. The Yellow Jackets have not played since the loss to the Bulldogs last Friday.

The Bearcats (4-0), an NIT team last season, are making their first road trip of the season following a 76-60 win over Northern Kentucky on Tuesday night. Cincinnati also has defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff (109-54), Morehead State (83-56) and Nichols State (86-49), winning their four games by an average of 33.8 points while scoring 88.5 points per game.

Saturday’s game will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra, 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 388 and the SiriusXM app.

THE TIP-OFF

  • Tech and Cincinnati are meeting for the 13th time in series history, but for just the third time in Atlanta and the first time since 1979, when both programs were members of the Metro Conference. The Yellow Jackets won both prior meetings, played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
  • The teams met last season at Cincinnati’s Fifth Third Bank Arena, with the Bearcats taking an 89-54 victory in Tech’s fourth game of the season.
  • Tech is meeting its first Associated Press Top 25 team this season. The Yellow Jackets went 3-1 against Top 25 teams during the 2023-24 season.
  • Saturday is game 5 in Georgia Tech’s seven-game homestand to open the 2024-25 season. The Yellow Jackets do not leave Atlanta until they visit Oklahoma on Dec. 3 in the SEC/ACC Challenge.
  • UC associate head coach Chad Dollar, who has been with the Bearcats the last three seasons, was on the staff at Georgia Tech under head coach Brian Gregory five seasons from 2011-16, serving the last two as associate head coach.

 

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Lance Terry (0) leads the Jackets on shooting percentage from the floor, from three-point range and from the foul line. (photo by Danny Karnik)

 

TECH BYTES

  • Four Tech players are averaging in double-figure points through four games (Baye Ndongo 15.8, Javian McCollum 14.8, Lance Terry 14.0, Kowacie Reeves Jr. 12.3), with Luke O’Brien close at 9.7 ppg.
  • Tech is averaging 82 points per game, nearly eight points higher than through four games a year ago. The Jackets have shown similar improvement in field goal percentage (42.9 now, 40.6 last season), three-point percentage (32.2 now, 29.8 last season), free throw percentage (71.8 now, 63.5 last season) and assist/turnover ratio (67/49 now, 48/50 last season).
  • Tech has connected on just 37.2 percent of its field goal tries (45-of-121) in its last two games.
  • Tech has connected on 76.8 percent of its free throws (43-of-56) in its last two games.
  • Javian McCollum and Baye Ndongo each have scored in double digits in all four of Tech’s games.
  • Baye Ndongo has scored in double-digits in all four Tech games this season, getting 14 points against Georgia, including 6-for-6 from the free throw line. He leads the Yellow Jackets in scoring average (15.8 ppg) and is tied for the team lead in rebound average (8.0 rpg).
  • Lance Terry scored all 20 of his points in the second half to single-handedly keep Tech in the game vs. Georgia (7-11 FG, 4-4 FT). He has scored 20 or more points three times in a Tech uniform (24 vs. Miami and Syracuse in the 2022-23 season).
  • Freshman center Doryan Onwuchekwa has started Tech’s last two games and grabbed a total of 20 rebounds, including a personal best of 11 against Georgia. He also scored a season-high seven points against the Dogs.
  • Javian McCollum has scored in double figures 49 times in his career, and in all four games for Tech this season. He had 13 points against Georgia, going 6-for-7 from the foul line. He has at least one three-point field goal in each game this season.
  • Kowacie Reeves, Jr., has started all 36 games Tech has played with him on the team.

 

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Sophomore Baye Ndongo (11) is Tech’s top scorer and rebounder through four games. (photo by Danny Karnik)

 

SERIES NOTES VS. CINCINNATI

  • Georgia Tech and Cincinnati are meeting for the 13th time, with UC holding a 9-3 lead. The teams met last Nov. 22, with the Bearcats taking an 89-54 victory over the Yellow Jackets.
  • Tech has won both prior meeting played in Atlanta, a 59-56 win in 1978 and an 82-73 victory in 1979.
  • Prior to last year’s game, the most recent meeting was an 87-70 Bearcat victory in the 1996 NCAA Southeast Regional semifinal at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.
  • Tech and Cincinnati met eight times as members of the old Metro Conference in the latter half of the 1970s, with the Bearcats winning five of the eight games. Two of Tech’s three wins came at home in Alexander Memorial Coliseum, the other occurred in the 1978 Metro Conference Tournament, which was played at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati.
  • Tech is 0-4 in regular season games at Cincinnati, three of those at Riverfront Coliseum and the other in the teams’ firstever meeting in 1926. Tech has never played at Fifth Third Bank Arena.

 

Full Steam Ahead

Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL

Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is in its second season under head coach Damon Stoudamire. 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.