Stanford Makes First-Ever Visit to TechStanford Makes First-Ever Visit to Tech
Men's Basketball

Stanford Makes First-Ever Visit to Tech

Yellow Jackets and Cardinal tip off at 7 p.m. EST Wednesday at McCamish Pavilion

GEORGIA TECH (11-13, 5-7 ACC) vs. STANFORD (16-8, 8-5 ACC)

 

THE FLATS – Both West Coast Atlantic Coast Conference teams are visiting Georgia Tech for the first time in program history this week, with Stanford coming to McCamish Pavilion for a 7 p.m. tilt Wednesday night.

Tech (11-13, 5-8 ACC) is back home after splitting a pair of road games last week, outlasting Clemson (89-86) in triple-overtime last Tuesday before falling 75-61 at Virginia Saturday. The Yellow Jackets have won three of their last five games, with home victories over Virginia Tech (71-64) and No. 2 Louisville (77-70) included in that stretch. Tech is 10-5 at home this season, and is one of four teams tied for 11th place in the league.

Stanford (16-8, 8-5 ACC) escaped with a 74-73 homecourt victory over NC State Saturday and has won 7 of its last 10 games. The Cardinal, alone in sixth place in the ACC standings, are 2-4 in conference road games, having defeated California back in December and North Carolina in mid-January. On this trip, Stanford will go from Atlanta to Duke to play the Blue Devils Saturday.

Wednesday’s game will be televised live on the ACC Network, 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 Sirius XM channel 371 (ACC Radio) and the SiriusXM app.

THE TIP-OFF

  • Though Georgia Tech has faced Stanford and California three times each, neither the Cardinal nor the Golden Bears have ever played on Tech’s campus. Stanford and Tech have, however, played at State Farm Arena (known then at Philips Arena).
  • A win Tuesday would give Tech three straight ACC home wins, something the Yellow Jackets could not accomplish last season. Tech won its final four conference home games in 2022-23.
  • Tech is 2-5 vs. NCAA NET Quad 1 teams this season and 6-12 under head coach Damon Stoudamire. Pittsburgh (47) and Wake Forest (59) are the only Quad 1 opportunities remaining on the Yellow Jackets’ schedule.
  • Six of Tech’s 13 ACC games this season have been decided by single digits, including four in a row (71-64 win over Virginia Tech, 71-68 loss at Notre Dame, 77-70 win over Louisville, 89-86 win over Clemson) before Saturday’s loss at Virginia.
  • Five Yellow Jackets have averages in double-digits for ACC games – Lance Terry (14.9), Duncan Powell (13.9), Naithan George (13.7), Javian McCollum (12.9) and Baye Ndongo (11.9).
  • Tech has never had its entire roster available for an ACC game this season. Kowacie Reeves, Jr., has not played in an ACC game this season, while Luke O’Brien has played in only one.
  • Tech has utilized 8 different starting lineups through its first 24 games this season, all because of injury. An injury to Javian McCollum at Clemson prompted the Jackets to send out a new first five at Virginia, with Duncan Powell back in the starting lineup for the third time.
  • Eleven different players have started a game for Tech this season, 10 different players have started an ACC game.
  • Tech has exceeded a point per possession in each of its last six games (1.080 vs. Florida State, 1.067 vs. Virginia Tech, 1.090 at Notre Dame, 1.076 vs. Louisville, 104.8 at Clemson, 103.7 at Virginia) after falling below that standard in three straight games. Tech’s efficiency ratings at FSU, Notre Dame, Clemson and Virginia are its highest in road games this season. The Jackets are 11-4 this season when scoring more than a point per permission.

SERIES NOTES VS. STANFORD

  • All three of the prior meetings between Tech and Stanford took place in holiday tournaments, most recently in Stanford’s own invitational that took place in December of 2000. The Cardinal won that game 80-66 in Paul Hewitt’s first season as Tech’s head coach.
  • One of those meetings took place in Atlanta at what is now known as State Farm Arena in Bobby Cremins’ final season at the Yellow Jackets’ head coach. The Cardinal also won that game, 64-61.
  • Tech coach Damon Stoudamire faced the Cardinal once during his tenure as head coach at Pacific, dropping an 89-80 decision at Stanford to open the 2017-18 season.
  • Stoudamire and first-year Stanford coach Kyle Smith faced each other five times when Stoudamire was the head coach at Pacific and Smith was the head coach at San Francisco. The Dons won all five meetings.
  • Tech has never faced Smith at any of his previous stops at Columbia, San Francisco or Washington State.
  • Stanford associate head coach Eric Reveno was associate head coach under Josh Pastner at Georgia Tech from 2016-22. Tech also faced the Cardinal when Reveno was a player (1986) and twice in his first stint as a Stanford assistant (1999, 2000).
gtmbb-at-clemson-020525_DSC04902_spearman - Georgia Tech men's basketball at Clemson, February 4, 2025, Littlejohn Coliseum, Clemson, S.C.

Duncan Powell has averaged 18.1 points over his last six games and is Tech’s second-leading scorer in ACC games. (photo by Brandon Spearman)

 

TECH BYTES

  • Sophomores Baye Ndongo and Naithan George are the only Yellow Jackets to have appeared in every game this season, and also the only ones to start every game this season. No one else has started more than 16. Ndongo has started 53 consecutive games, George 52, dating back to last season.
  • Tech rotation players have missed a total of 46 games this season because of injury or illness. Kowacie Reeves, Jr., has missed the last 18 games (foot injury), Luke O’Brien missed the last 13 games (toe injury), Jaeden Mustaf has missed the last 6 (foot) and Lance Terry has missed 2 of the last 6 (hand/illness). Javian McCollum missed 4 games earlier in December with a concussion, and missed the Virginia game Saturday due to a head injury.
  • Tech has played 6 or 7 players in its last seven games (starting with the 1/14 game vs. Clemson), one exception being 8 on 2/4 at Clemson as Ryan Mutombo and Darrion Sutton saw rare minutes, and 2/8 at Virginia when two walk-ons finished the game. The Jackets had played 8 or more in every game prior to the first Clemson meeting, 9 or more in 11 games.
  • Tech has shot 45.9% from the floor in its last 5 games (47.1% vs. Virginia Tech, 49.1% at Notre Dame, 47.6 vs. Louisville, 42.2% at Clemson, 45.8% at Virginia). The Jackets had connected on an aggregate 40.2% during their 4-game losing streak before the win over Virginia Tech.
  • Despite Tech’s shorter rotation the last three weeks, the Yellow Jackets’ bench remains one of the more productive in the ACC, ranking No. 6 in points per game (22.1), and 143rd nationally.
  • Tech has attempted 45 more free throws than its opponents in ACC play (+3.5 per game). The Yellow Jackets have not finished a season with more free throw attempts than their opponents since the 2016-17 season, and only once since 2000. Tech’s percentage of free throw attempts to field goal attempts in ACC play (31.3%) ranks 7th in the league.

PLAYER NOTES

  • Sophomore guard Naithan George has scored in double digits in 11 straight games, and 20-plus in his last two, after tallying 20 points at Virginia. George is averaging 14.9 points and 6.5 assists over that stretch. He has shot 44.9% (62-of-138) from the floor, 33.9% (21-of-62) from 3-point range, and 68% (17-of-25) from the foul line, during that stretch.
  • Prior to his current 11-game string of double-digit games, George had scored 10 or more points in 6 of his first 13 games this season.
  • Junior forward Duncan Powell has averaged 15.0 points and 5.5 rebounds over his last 11 games, including three games of 20 points or more. The Sacramento State transfer has hit 44.2% (57-of-129) from the floor, 40% (24-of-60) from three-point range and 69.2% (36-of-52) from the foul line in that stretch.
  • Powell had just three double-digit scoring games among his first 12 this season, 9 in his last 11.
  • Powell has shot a team-high 37.7% on 61 3-point attempts in ACC play, and has been to the foul line a team-high 62 times (67.7%).
  • In Tech’s last 6 games, Baye Ndongo has averaged 12.2 points (6 double-digit games) and 9.9 rebounds (4 double-digit games). He has shot 50.7% percent from the floor and 17-of-24 from the foul line, while recording 10 assists, 6 blocked shots and 14 steals.
  • Ndongo has averaged 8.2 rebounds in ACC games, which ranks No. 6 in the league.
  • Ibrahim Souare has started Tech’s last 7 games as injuries ravaged the Jackets’ rotation. The redshirt freshman has averaged 29.3 minutes, averaging 4.0 points with 5.3 rebounds and 5 blocked shots
  • Freshman Darrion Sutton, pressed into service at Virginia with Tech’s injury situation, played a season-high 22:56 at Virginia and scored 4 points with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Sutton, who has played in eight games this season, had seen action in just two games, for a total of nine minutes, since Dec. 28.

 

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.