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HOOPS Tech Finishes Homestand vs. Pittsburgh

Kelly Quinlan

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Jul 10, 2006
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Yellow Jackets and Panthers tip off at 7 p.m. EST Tuesday at McCamish Pavilion




Complete 2023-24 schedule | Purchase Single-Game Tickets | Media Notes (PDF)


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GEORGIA TECH (9-9, 2-5 ACC) vs. PITTSBURGH (11-7, 2-5 ACC)​

Tuesday, January 23, 2024 | 7 p.m. EST | Atlanta, Ga. | McCamish Pavilion

Television:
ESPNU (Announcers: Anish Shroff, David Padgett)

Radio: Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports (In Atlanta: 680 AM/93.7 The Fan) | SiriusXM channel 383

Other ways to listen: SiriusXM app | Listen Online | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets App | TuneIn

Announcers: Andy Demetra, Randy Waters

Live Stats: Statbroadcast.com



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THE FLATS – Looking for a bounce-back win after dropping a close game Saturday to Virginia, Georgia Tech finishes a two-game homestand at 7 p.m. Tuesday night against Pittsburgh at McCamish Pavilion.

The Yellow Jackets (9-9, 2-5 ACC) has lost three straight ACC games at home to Boston College (95-87), Notre Dame (75-68 in overtime) and Virginia (75-66) since beating Duke (72-68) on Dec. 2. The Yellow Jackets’ other conference win came at Clemson last Tuesday (93-90 in overtime).

Pittsburgh (11-7, 2-5 ACC) had lost four of its last five games before capturing an 80-76 win at Duke Saturday, avenging a 23-point home loss to the Blue Devils in early January. The Panthers also have an 83-70 road win at Louisville to its credit.

Tuesday’s game will be televised live on ESPNU 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 Tech broadcast is also available on SiriusXM channel 383 and the SiriusXM app.

THE TIP-OFF

• Tech’s five ACC losses have been decided by an average of eight points, only one by double digits. In the last four, the Jackets had leads of 16 points against Boston College, seven vs. Notre Dame, 10 at Duke and 11 vs. Virginia.

• Tech has averaged 76.6 points per game and has connected on 47.4 percent of its field goal tries in ACC play, which ranks No. 4 and No. 2, respectively, in those categories.

• Tech has the ACC’s fourth-most efficient offense in conference games (109.5 points per 100 possessions according to KenPom.com) and ranks No. 2 in effective field goal percentage in conference games.

• Seven Tech players have scored at least 20 points in a game this season - Naithan George, Kyle Sturdivant, Deebo Coleman, Tafara Gapare, Kowacie Reeves, Jr., Baye Ndongo and Miles Kelly. It is only the second time that as many as seven different Yellow Jackets have scored 20-plus in a game during a season (2007-08).

• Four Tech players are averaging double figures in ACC play - Miles Kelly (15.9), Baye Ndongo (15.2) and Kowacie Reeves, Jr. (12.6) and Naithan George (10.6). Those three players have combined to hit 49.1 percent of their shots from the floor (144-293) and 39.5 percent from three-point range (58-of-129).

• Tech has started two freshmen - Baye Ndongo and point guard Naithan George - in its last 14 games, winning seven of them. The Jackets have not had two freshmen in its regular starting lineup since the 2018-19 season (Michael Devoe, Khalid Moore), and have not had a freshman regularly start at point guard since Jose Alvarado in 2017-18.

Miles Kelly, Tech’s leading scorer in 2022-23 at 14.4 points per game, is Tech’s leading scorer again this season at 15.1 points per game. The junior guard leads three Jackets averaging in double figures with freshman forward Baye Ndongo (12.9 ppg) and junior guard Kowacie Reeves, Jr. (11.9 ppg). Five other Jackets average between 4.5 and 9.3 points per game.

• Kelly sits 17 points away from 900 for his career, while Tyzhaun Claude needs 15 to reach the same plateau.

• Freshman forward Baye Ndongo has won the ACC’s Rookie of the Week honor three times this season (Dec. 2, Dec. 18, Dec. 26), most for a Yellow Jacket since current NBA star Josh Okogie did so during the 2016-17 season.

• Tech’s point guard tandem of Naithan George and Kyle Sturdivant has averaged 7.1 assists per game combined, 9.9 in ACC games. Their assist/turnover ratio is 2.37-to-1 combined overall, 3.45-to-1 in conference games. Both players rank among the nation’s top 51 players in assist rate (assists divided by the field goals made by the player’s teammates while he is on the court) according to KenPom.com.

• Tech is 4-6 against Quad 1 and Quad 2 teams this season, with a Quad 1 win over Duke and Quad 2 wins over Mississippi State and Massachusetts. The Jackets have five Quad 1 and five Quad 2 opponents remaining on its schedule. Tech was 3-14 last season against Quad 1/2 foes.

SERIES VS. PITTSBURGH

• Pittsburgh swept the regular-season series from Tech in 2022-23, winning 71-60 in Atlanta and 76-68 in Pittsburgh, and added an 89-81 win over the Yellow Jackets in the ACC Tournament.

• Tech had won three straight meetings prior to that and still leads the series 12-8, including a 7-8 mark since Pitt became an ACC member.

• Pitt swept a regular-season series from Tech for the first time in 2022-23. Tech and Pitt split the games the other two times they have played twice, in 2017 and 2020.

• Tech’s 73-57 win in its final home game of the 2019-20 campaign was the widest margin of victory for either team in 15 meetings as ACC foes.

• Tech won the first five games in the series, prior to Pitt’s entry into the ACC, all of which took place between 1966 and 1989. The Panthers won the first three meetings after joining the conference.

• The two most entertaining games between Tech and the former Big East member played in the same month of the 1989-90 season, when the Yellow Jackets were on the way to their second ACC title and first Final Four appearance. Bobby Cremins and Paul Evans were the respective head coaches at the time.

• Tech overcame an early 26-5 deficit to win the ACC/Big East Challenge game in Hartford in early December, getting 42 points from Dennis Scott, including the game-winner with 8 seconds left. Later in the month, the Panthers came to Atlanta for a Kuppenheimer Classic game at the Omni, and Tech won the game without Cremins, who was attending his father’s funeral. Kenny Anderson recorded a triple-double with 32 points, 12 rebounds and 18 assists.

• Tech scored easy wins over Pitt in the first three games of the series, all under head coach Whack Hyder, two of which were played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the Tech campus.

• Tech is 5-4 against the Panthers’ current head coach, Jeff Capel, having scored an 86-65 victory over VCU during the 2003-04 season when Capel was the Rams’ head coach.
 
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