Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball Earns NIT Invitation

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech men’s basketball is returning to the post-season for the first time in four years with a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. The No. 4 seed Yellow Jackets will face Jacksonville State of Conference USA in the opening round of the tournament at 7 p.m. Tuesday night at McCamish Pavilion. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2.

This is the 27th post-season appearance in Georgia Tech’s basketball history, and the 10th appearance for the Yellow Jackets in the NIT. Tech has a 17-16 overall record this season and finished in 8^th place in the ACC at 10-10, earning a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2021. The Jackets defeated Virginia in their opening game before being eliminated by top-ranked Duke in the quarterfinals.

Jacksonville State (22-12, 12-6 C-USA) tied for second place in the Conference USA regular-season and lost to Liberty. The Yellow Jackets and Gamecocks have never met on the hardwood.

The winner of the Tech-Jacksonville State game advances to the second round to face the winner of No. 1 seed UC Irvine (28-6) and Northern Colorado (25-9) either Saturday or Sunday (March 22 or 23) at a site to be determined. That game is set for 10 p.m. Wednesday.

Tech has won eight of 12 games since the start of February, including signature wins over Louisville and Clemson and a third Quad 1 win at Pittsburgh. The Yellow Jackets have done it with a playing rotation thinned by injuries to three key players. Tech has four players averaging in double figures, led by senior guard Lance Terry (College Park, Ga.), averaging 14.5 points a game, and the sophomore tandem of forward Baye Ndongo (Mboro, Senegal) and point guard Naithan George (Toronto, Ontario). Ndongo averaged a double-double in ACC games (14.4 ppg, 10.2 rpg), while George has averaged 12.2 points and a conference-best 6.5 assists per game. Junior forward Duncan Powell (Dallas, Texas) has averaged 12.1 points and 5.4 rebounds, contributing off the bench most of the season until the last month when he was pressed into starting duty because of injuries.

Tech is 14-9 in its nine previous appearances in the NIT in program, twice finishing as the runner-up in 1971 and 2017.

 

TICKET INFORMATION

Georgia Tech men’s basketball season ticket members will have opportunity to secure their same seats and parking for NIT Round 1 vs. Jacksonville State beginning Monday at 8 a.m. by logging in to their account at ramblinwreck.com/tickets and purchasing through their online application portal.  Deadline for season ticket members to secure their same seats and parking will be end of day Monday.

Tickets to the general public, beginning at just $30.00, will be made available beginning at noon on Monday at ramblinwreck.com/tickets or by calling 1-888-TECH-TIX. All purchased tickets and parking will be delivered digitally.

The first 400 Georgia Tech students in attendance will receive free admission by claiming a ticket as they arrive at the Mark Moon Family Entrance off of Fowler Street. Additional tickets may be purchased through the online student ticket portal at ramblinwreck.evenue.net or in person at the McCamish Pavilion ticket office beginning one hour prior to tip. Student tickets must be claimed and/or purchased for postseason events and BuzzCards will not be valid for admission.

The Yellow Jackets finished 8th in the ACC regular season and won their opening ACC Tournament game over Virginia. (photo by Keith Lucas)

 

NIT 101

The National Invitation Tournament has a 32-team field, including 16 exempt teams that host opening-round games, with a traditional single-elimination draw. Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference teams each have two of the exemption, along with one each from the top 12 conferences. The rest of the field is comprised of at-large invitees. (Read more about how teams are selected.)

All games in the NIT are televised on one of the ESPN networks.

• March 18 and 19 – first-round games (campus sites)
• March 22 and 23 – round of 16 games (campus sites)
• March 25 and 26 – quarterfinal games (campus sites)
• April 1 – semifinal games (Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Ind.)
• April 3 – championship game (Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Ind.)

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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 year 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 X (@GTMBB) and Instagram. For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com. Tickets for men’s basketball can be reserved here.