Inside The Chart: Georgia Tech vs. California

By Andy Demetra | Voice of the Yellow Jackets

Yes, Georgia Tech brings a 10-game streak into McCamish Pavilion.

No, it’s not the one you think.

Remarkably, the Yellow Jackets have won 10 straight regular season home finales dating back to 2015-16. Streaking, slumping, rough, resurgent – no matter the season, for a decade straight, Senior Days have always ended in celebration at McCamish.

That may bode well for Kowacie Reeves Jr., Lamar Washington and Chas Kelley III, all of whom will be recognized prior to Wednesday’s matchup against Cal (20-9, 8-8 ACC). Can the Yellow Jackets extend that streak while simultaneously ending another? And in the process, can they avenge a vexing loss to the Golden Bears a month ago to the day in Berkeley? Enjoy the top notes from my chart before Tech lifts the curtain one final time at McCamish for 2026 (7:00 p.m. ET, Georgia Tech Sports Network):

The final score against Florida State shouldn’t obscure – well, an obscure stat line from Jaeden Mustaf.

Facing a former high school teammate in A.J. Swinton and a fellow native of Bowie, Md., in Martin Somerville, the sophomore finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and a career-high eight assists without a  turnover against the Seminoles.

The last time a Yellow Jacket had an 8-assist, 0-turnover game versus an ACC opponent?

Trae Golden, who dished out 8 assists without a turnover against Virginia Tech on March 8, 2014.

Not bad for a player who isn’t a point guard per se. Also, six of Mustaf’s seven rebounds against Florida State were offensive. Assists and offensive rebounds are usually mutually exclusive – big men O-board, small guys dish and distribute – which makes his stat line all the more uncommon.

The last time an ACC player had at least eight assists and six offensive rebounds in a game?

February 28, 2023… when Ja’Von Franklin did it for Georgia Tech against Syracuse.

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Baye Ndongo also recorded a career-high eight assists against Cal on February 4, which allowed the junior to unexpectedly flirt with a triple-double (10 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists). The Golden Bears smother on hedges as hard as any team in the ACC, and time and again in Berkeley, Ndongo made smart decisions out of those hedges and pocket passes.

“When Baye catches, the only thing I want him to do is sometimes he tends to rush. He doesn’t have to rush. Just take your time, catch it in the pocket (with) two hands, and just make the next read,” said head coach Damon Stoudamire.

Can Ndongo play with the same poise and patience against Cal’s hedge-o-rama in the rematch? Early on, Georgia Tech was baited into too many first-side three-point shots against those hedges, a big reason why the Jackets finished 2-of-17 from beyond the arc in the first half. Ndongo figured to be an integral part of Georgia Tech’s game plan against Florida State before foul trouble made a mess of his day. Remember, too, that Tech played most of that first Cal game without Kowacie Reeves Jr., who was limited to five scoreless minutes due to illness. How might his athleticism and floor stretching upgrade Tech’s offense in the rematch?

Akai Fleming scored an ACC-high 19 points against Cal.

13 of them came in the final 2:26 of the game. Fleming scored as many points in that span as the entire Cal team.

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Golden Bears guard Dai Dai Ames had a career Day Day against Georgia Tech, finishing with 29 points and solidifying himself as one of the league’s better three-level scorers. That included 3-of-4 three-pointers.

Since that game, Ames has gone 3-of-21 from beyond the arc.

Still, Georgia Tech can’t assume anything against a Bears team that drained 12 of 23 threes in Berkeley. The Bears rank third in the ACC in three-point percentage (36.7%), but they’re at their best when they use that outside shooting threat to create attack angles for themselves. In ACC play, no team generates a higher percentage of points off free throws than Cal – and the Bears also rank 12th nationally in free throw percentage (78.4%).

 

Cal point distribution (ACC)

Stat:                                   %                          ACC Rank

2-pointers:                       41.9%                  #17

Free Throws:                   21.8%                  #1

 

The Yellow Jackets felt the brunt of that in Berkeley – Cal connected on 28-of-39 free throws, a season high allowed by Tech. Justin Pippen, the Bears’ slippery, savvy point guard (14.7 ppg), has struggled from three of late but scored a career-high 24 points in a win over SMU last week.

Cal followed that SMU win, though, with a home loss to Pittsburgh, which plunged them to “Next Four Out” status in ESPN’s latest Bracketology projection. The Jackets will have to be prepared for an all-business Golden Bears team from the jump. Worth noting: After allowing a season-high in offensive rebounding percentage against Florida State, Tech may get a reprieve against the Golden Bears. Cal ranks 328th in the nation in that category, and Tech finished an ACC-high +12 in second chance points in Berkeley (though the Bears played without leading rebounder Lee Dort, who has since returned to the lineup).

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Cal’s campus features a grove of redwood trees not far from Haas Pavilion, including several Coast redwoods.

Atlanta, the famed “City in the Forest,” has exactly one Coast redwood in its city limits.

You can find it on the front lawn of the Inman Park house belonging to the family of Tech student manager Will Ezell. He and fellow manager K.J. Sanders will also be honored on Senior Day.

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Now that we’re prepared, we hope you are as well. Join us for pregame coverage starting with the “Ramblin’ Wreck Tip-off Show” at 6:30 p.m. ET on the Georgia Tech Sports Network. For one last time, see you at McCamish.

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