Tech Goes Cold in Loss at Wake Forest

Winston-Salem, N.C. – Baye Ndongo scored a team-high 13 points with 10 rebounds for his 12^th double-double this season, but Georgia Tech shot less than 30 percent from the floor and set a season-low for points in a 69-43 loss at Wake Forest Saturday at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Tech suffered its largest margin of defeat since an 82-58 loss to Duke on Dec. 21. With the loss, Tech (16-15, 10-10 ACC) locked down the No. 8 seed in next week’s Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in Charlotte, N.C., where they will play the noon game Wednesday against the No. 9 seed, which will be determined after results later Saturday.

Tech made just 5-of-27 shots from the floor, 2-of-17 from 3-point range in trailing 34-15 at the break. The Yellow Jackets had two scoring droughts of more than four minutes, and the Demon Deacons closed the half on a 12-0 run. Things improved in the second half, but only marginally as Tech finished at 29.6% and made just three 3-point field goals in the game, both season lows.

Meanwhile, the Demon Deacons (21-10, 13-7 ACC) shot just 38.1% for the game, but hit 11 3-pointers and forced 16 Tech turnovers, which they turned into 23 points.

Jaeden Mustaf was the only other Yellow Jacket in double figures with 12 points, and Ibrahim Souare pulled a team-high 11 rebounds, his second double-digit effort this season.

 

Baye Ndongo (11) posted his 12th double-double this season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. (photo by Andy Mead)

 

POST-GAME NOTES

• Georgia Tech finished the regular season in 8^th place in the ACC standings, four slots ahead of the media’s pre-season projections, and has finished ahead of the pre-season projection eight of the last nine years.
• Tech draws the No. 8 seed in next week’s ACC Tournament in Charlotte, N.C., where it will play the noon game Wednesday, March 12, against the No. 9 seed, a team to be determined following the remainder of Saturday’s games. It is the first time the Yellow Jackets have earned a first-round bye in the tournament since 2021, when they won the championship.
• Tech once stood 2-6 in ACC play this season, but has won 5 of its last 7 games, 7 of its last 10 (Feb. 1 to the present), and 8 of its last 12.
• Tech’s 43 points, 29.6% shooting from the floor and 13% from 3-point range against Wake Forest were all season lows. The 43 points were the Yellow Jackets’ fewest since a 96-43 loss to Duke on Jan. 28, 2023, and the FG% was Tech’s lowest since hitting 28.5% vs. Wake Forest on Feb. 6, 2024.
• Tech is 3-6 in games vs. Quad 1 teams this season with wins over Louisville on 2/1, Clemson on 2/4 and Pittsburgh on 2/25. The Jackets are 7-13 vs. Quad 1 teams under Damon Stoudamire.
• Baye Ndongo posted his 12^th double-double of the season and 10^th in ACC play this season with 13 points and 10 rebounds against Wake Forest. Only Maxime Reynaud of Stanford (12) has more double-doubles against ACC teams this season, and only Eddie Lampkin of Syracuse (10) has as many.
• Ibrahim Souare led the Yellow Jackets with 11 rebounds and notched his second double-digit carom game this season.
• Freshman Jaeden Mustaf pitched in 12 points at Wake Forest, his second double-figure effort in Tech’s last 3 games and his 3^rd in an ACC game this season, 9th overall.

Jaeden Mustaf (3) scored 12 points for his second double-figure game in the last three. (photo by Andy Mead)

 

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

POST-GAME AUDIO

Head coach Damon Stoudamire

 

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