Tech Hoops Faces Virginia to Open ACC TournamentTech Hoops Faces Virginia to Open ACC Tournament
Men's Basketball

Tech Hoops Faces Virginia to Open ACC Tournament

Yellow Jackets and Cavaliers tip off at 12 p.m. p.m. EDT Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C.

GEORGIA TECH (16-15, 10-10 ACC) vs. VIRGINIA (15-16, 8-12 ACC)

 

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Charlotte, N.C. – Having earned its highest seed in four years, Georgia Tech opens its 45th Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament facing Virginia at 12 p.m. Wednesday at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.

Tech (16-15, 10-10 ACC) finished the regular season winning five of its last seven games to secure an eighth-place finish, getting decisive home wins over NC State (87-62) and Miami (89-74) following a road win over Pittsburgh (73-67) along the way. The Yellow Jackets have won seven of 10 games since the start of February, including wins over two of the top three teams in the ACC standings, Louisville (77-70) and Clemson (89-86 in 3 overtimes), early in the month.

Virginia (15-16, 8-12 ACC) finished the season in a five-way tie for ninth place in the ACC standings, but earned the No. 9 seed based on its record against the other four teams and a key win over Wake Forest, the No. 4 seed. The Cavaliers lost four of their last six games to finish the regular season. Prior to that, they won three in a row, including a 75-61 win over the Yellow Jackets on Feb. 8 in Charlottesville, the teams’ only regular-season meeting.

The winner of the Tech-UVA game will advance to face Duke, the top seed, at noon Thursday.

Wednesday’s game will be televised live on ESPN2, with al 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 broadcast is also available on Sirius XM channel 81 and the SiriusXM app.

THE TIP-OFF

  • Two of Georgia Tech’s Atlantic Coast Conference championships were won in Charlotte, both in the old Charlotte Coliseum, in 1990 and 1993. The Yellow Jackets are 8-8 all-time in ACC Tournament games in Charlotte.
  • Tech and Virginia met once during the regular season, with the Cavaliers taking a 75-61 victory on Feb. 8 in Charlottesville. The Jackets are looking to break a 13-game losing streak in the series.
  • Tech finished the regular season in 8th 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 has earned a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2021, when the Yellow Jackets won their fourth ACC championship. It is the Yellow Jackets’ second top-9 seed since the ACC expanded to 15 teams ahead of the 2013-14 season.
  • 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 has its most conference wins since 2020-21 (11-6) and has a .500 or better record in league play for the first time since then.
  • Tech is the only ACC team to defeat both Clemson and Louisville, the teams tied for 2nd place in the standings, this season. The Jackets stopped a 10-game winning streak by Louisville, which has gone on to win 9-straight since, and stopped a 6-game win streak by Clemson, which responded by defeating Duke and North Carolina and has won 7-straight since.
  • Tech is 3-7 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 7-14 vs. Quad 1 teams under Damon Stoudamire.
  • Five Yellow Jackets finished the ACC regular season with scoring averages in double digits – Lance Terry (14.6), Baye Ndongo (14.4), Duncan Powell (13.9), Naithan George (13.5) and Javian McCollum (12.9). They are the third quintet to do so, joining the 1985-86 and 1991-92 teams. If they finish the full season in double digits, they will be the fourth Tech group to accomplish that (1964-65, 1985-86, 1991-92).
  • Tech has tied its all-time record for most 20-point games in one season, having recorded 27 this season (9 by Terry, 5 by George, 5 by Powell, 4 by Ndongo, 4 by Javian McCollum). It matches the number recorded by the 2020-21 team which had ACC Player of the Year Moses Wright (10), Jose Alvarado (8), Michael Devoe (8) and Jordan Usher (1).
  • Head coach Damon Stoudamire is a finalist the Ben Jobe Award, which is bestowed annually to the top minority head coach in Division I college basketball.
  • Tech has two former ACC all-tournament performers on its basketball staff – assistant coach B.J. Elder, who made the all-tournament team in 2004, and special assistant to the head coach James Forrest, who won the Everett Case Award as the tournament MVP during the Yellow Jackets’ championship run here in Charlotte in 1993. Forrest averaged 26.7 points in three games that year.

TECH’S ACC TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Georgia Tech has played in 44 ACC Tournaments and has a 29-40 all-time record in the event. The Yellow Jackets have won four championships, in 1985 (Atlanta), 1990 (Charlotte), 1993 (Charlotte) and 2021 (Greensboro).

Tech has been a runner-up four times (1986, 1996, 2005, 2010). The 1986, 1996 and 2010 runs to the finals occurred in Greensboro. Tech also made the finals in 2005 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

Tech was 0-2 in the ACC Tournament under coach Dwane Morrison, 15-16 under Bobby Cremins (including three titles), 9-11 under Paul Hewitt (runner-up in 2005 and 2010), 2-5 under Brian Gregory. 3-5 under Josh Pastner (won 2021 title) and 0-1 under Damon Stoudamire.

Tech did not play in the 2020 tournament while serving an NCAA postseason ban.

 

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Baye Ndongo (11) is the first Tech player since 2000-01 to average a double-double in ACC play. (photo by Danny Karnik)

 

SERIES NOTES VS. VIRGINIA

  • Virginia has won the last 13 games in the series, and 21 of the last 23 meetings to move ahead 50-40 in the all-time series, which dates back to 1947.
  • Since Tech joined the ACC, the Yellow Jackets are 38-49 against Virginia.
  • Tech is 0-3 against Virginia under Damon Stoudamire, 0-1 against Cavalier coach Ron Sanchez.
  • Tech has not scored more than 66 points against Virginia in the last 21 meetings in the series, and failed to reach 60 in 14 of those games.
  • Tech and Virginia have played to overtime seven times since the 1983-84 season, including a 72-71 triple-overtime win for Tech in Atlanta on Jan. 23, 1984, and an 88-85 double-overtime triumph for Virginia in Charlottesville on Jan. 22, 1995.
  • In the ACC Tournament, Tech has won five of 10 meetings, including a 70-61 Jacket victory in the 1990 final in Charlotte.

TECH BYTES

  • Tech attempted 58 more free throws than its opponents in ACC play (+2.9 per game), the first time the Yellow Jackets finished a season with more free throw attempts than their opponents since the 2016-17 season, and only the second time since 2000.
  • Tech finished the regular season No. 2 in the ACC in limiting league opponents’ trips to the free throw line, holding them to a 24.8% rate of FTA to FGA. Tech has committed 18 fewer fouls than its opponents over its last 8 games.
  • In Tech’s last 10 games, Tech’s sophomore duo of Naithan George and Baye Ndongo have accounted for nearly half (46%) of the Yellow Jackets’ points (333 of 723), and they have scored 124 of Tech’s 266 field goals and 60 of its 118 free throws.
  • Tech has utilized 9 different starting lineups this season, all a result of injury. Twelve different players have started a game for Tech this season, 11 different players have started an ACC game.
  • Tech has played with 8 scholarship players in each of its last 8 games after Javian McCollum was injured Feb. 4 at Clemson, and its playing rotation has been 6 or 7 for most of its last 14 games dating back to Jan. 14 vs. Clemson, when Lance Terry missed the first of his 3 games. The Jackets beat Louisville with only six players.
  • Ndongo and George are the only Yellow Jackets to have appeared in every game this season. No one else has started more than 23 (Terry), and only three players (George, Ndongo, Terry) have started as many as 20 games.
  • Ndongo finished the regular season averaging a double-double in ACC games (14.4 ppg, 10.2 rpg), joining Eddie Lampkin of Syracuse as the only players to do so. Ndongo is the first Tech player to average a double-double in ACC games since Alvin Jones in 2000-21 and only the third Yellow Jacket to do so (Malcolm Mackey did it in 1990-91 and 1992-93).
  • Across Tech’s last 10 games, George has averaged 15.5 points, 7.1 assists and 4.9 boards, a stretch which includes which includes 4 straight 20-point efforts against Clemson, Virginia, Stanford and California.
  • George has either scored or assisted on nearly half (47%) of Tech’s field goals over the Yellow Jackets’ last 10 games (7-3 record). He has connected on 37.3% of his 3-point attempts, and 83.3% of his free throw tries.
  • Terry has reached double figures in all but 7 games he has played this season and remains the Yellow Jackets’ leading scorer overall (15.0 ppg) in ACC games (14.6). He has scored 20-plus points in 9 games this season, 6 times in ACC games.
  • Duncan Powell has averaged 15.8 points and 5.4 rebounds over his last 13 games, scoring double digits 11 of them and 20 or more in 4 games … Hit 43.8% (67-of-153) from the floor, 36.4% (28-of-77) from 3-point range and 75.9% (44-of-58) from the foul line in that stretch.

 

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.