Tech Hoops Hosts Jacksonville State to Open NITTech Hoops Hosts Jacksonville State to Open NIT
Men's Basketball

Tech Hoops Hosts Jacksonville State to Open NIT

Yellow Jackets and Gamecocks tip off at 7 p.m. p.m. EDT Tuesday in Atlanta, Ga.

GEORGIA TECH (17-16, 10-10 ACC) vs. JACKSONVILLE STATE (22-12, 12-6 C-USA)

 

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THE FLATS – Returning to the post-season for the first time in four years, Georgia Tech received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament and will host Jacksonville State from Conference USA for its first-round game at 7 p.m. EDT Tuesday at McCamish Pavilion. Tech is the No. 4 seed in the Irvine Region of the 32-team tournament.

Tech (17-16, 10-10 ACC) has won six of its last eight regular season games to finish eighth in the Atlantic Coast Conference, earning a first-round bye for the first time since 2021. The Yellow Jackets are 8-4 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). The Yellow Jackets split their two games in the ACC Tournament, defeating Virginia (66-60) in the second round before falling to No. 1 Duke (78-70) in the quarterfinals.

Jacksonville State (22-12, 12-6 C-USA ACC) tied for second place in the C-USA regular season, a game behind Liberty, and advanced to the finals of the conference tournament, where they fell to the Flames, 79-67.

The winner of the Tech-JSU game will advance to face the winner of a Wednesday game between the No. 1 seed, UC Irvine (28-6) and Northern Colorado (25-9) either Saturday or Sunday in the second round.

Tuesday’s game will be televised live on ESPN, 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 TIP-OFF

  • Georgia Tech and Jacksonville State are meeting for the first time on the hardwood. The Yellow Jackets also have never faced either of their two potential second-round foes.
  • Tech has played in the NIT nine times previously, reaching the championship game in 1971 and 2017, where the Yellow Jackets lost to North Carolina and TCU, respectively. The Yellow Jackets are 14-9 all-time in the post-season tournament.
  • The first two NIT appearances came in 1970 and 1971, when the entire event took place at Madison Square Garden in New York. Later on, only the semifinals and finals were played at MSG, as was the case in 2017, when the Jackets defeated CSU-Bakersfield in the semifinals before falling to TCU.
  • The Jackets have advanced as far as the quarterfinals three other times (1998, 2003 and 2016), but lost on the road in each case.
  • Tech has played seven NIT games at home, where the Yellow Jackets are 6-1. In its most recent NIT in 2017, the Yellow Jackets defeated Indiana and Belmont at McCamish Pavilion before winning their quarterfinal game at Ole Miss. The Jackets are 3-5 in NIT road games.

 

ndongoB-georgeN_gtmbb-vs-uva_20250312-ACCG4-UVA-vs-GT-MBB-0J7A8773__lucasBaye Ndongo (11) - Georgia Tech men's basketball vs. Virginia, March 12, 2025, ACC Tournament, 2nd round, Spectrum Center, Charlotte, N.C.

Baye Ndongo (11) and Naithan George (1) celebrate their ACC Tournament win over Virginia. (photo by Keith Lucas)

 

2024-25 STORYLINES

  • Georgia 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 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 earned 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.
  • Baye Ndongo was named third-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference, while Naithan George earned honorable mention. Duncan Powell was runner-up for the ACC’s Sixth Man Award, and made the ACC all-tournament second team. George was fourth in the voting for the ACC’s Most Improved Player Award.
  • 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 finished the regular season 14-5 on its home court after beginning the season 2-3, and 8-2 in ACC games, having clinched its first winning home conference record since the 2020-21 season, when the Jackets were 8-1.
  • This Tech team is the seventh in program history to win 14 or more games at home in a regular season, and the first since the 2016-17 season, when the Jackets were 17-4 (including two home games in the NIT).
  • Tech won its last 6 ACC games at home, the first time the Jackets have won 6 conference games in a row since late in the 2019-20 season, when they won their final 7 ACC home games.
  • Tech is 2-5 vs. top-25 teams this season (including a win over Clemson, which was No. 21 in the coaches poll but unranked in AP at the time), and 5-6 under Damon Stoudamire.
  • Tech, which stood 2-6 in the ACC at one point this season, has won 4 of its last 6 games, 6 of its last 9, and 8 of its last 12 dating back to its Feb. 1 win over Louisville.
  • Tech won its first ACC Tournament game since its run to the 2021 championship and is now 30-41 all-time. Tech also is 9-9 in tournament games played in Charlotte, 2-3 in the Spectrum Center and 1-5 as a No. 8 seed.
  • Tech’s 17 wins matches the most for the program in a season since 2015-16, when the Yellow Jackets went 21-15 (Tech also won 21 games in 2016-17 though all those wins were vacated by the NCAA). Tech won 17 games in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
  • Tech was the only ACC team to defeat both Clemson and Louisville, the teams tied for 2nd place in the standings, during the regular season. The Jackets stopped a 10-game winning streak by Louisville, who then won its next 11 games before falling to Duke in the ACC Championship game. Tech ended a 6-game win streak by Clemson, who responded by defeating Duke and North Carolina and won its next 9 in a row before falling to Louisville in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

 

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.