WASHINGTON, D.C. — Having won four of its last six games, Georgia Tech enters the 71st Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament as the No. 13 seed and takes on Notre Dame in its opening-round game at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Tech (14-17, 7-13 ACC) defeated Syracuse (65-60), Miami (80-76), Florida State (85-76) and Wake Forest (70-69) in the final three weeks of the regular season before dropping a 72-57 decision at Virginia in the finale Saturday. The Jackets have also scored ACC wins over Duke, Clemson (on the road) and North Carolina this season.
Notre Dame (12-19, 7-13 ACC) lost road games at North Carolina and Virginia the last week of the regular season, but the Fighting Irish went 5-3 over the final month, including wins over Wake Forest and Clemson. The Fighting Irish also defeated Georgia Tech twice, giving them the tiebreaker over the Yellow Jackets for the No. 12 seed in the ACC Tournament.
THE TIP-OFF
• Georgia Tech and Notre Dame are meeting in the ACC Tournament for the second time. The 15th-seeded Fighting Irish defeated the No. 10-seed Yellow Jackets, 78-71, in the opening round of the 2019 tournament in Charlotte.
• In Tech’s 45-year history in the ACC, the Yellow Jackets have lost three games to a team in the same season 14 times, most recently in 2022-23 to Pittsburgh. Notre Dame defeated the Jackets twice during th regular season, 75-68 in overtime in Atlanta, and 58-55 in South Bend.
• On three occasions, Tech has lost to a team twice in the regular season and then defeated that team in the ACC Tournament - Virginia in 1990, North Carolina in 1993 and Clemson in 2009.
• Tech is 3-2 in ACC Tournament games played in Washington, D.C. The Yellow Jackets made it to the championship game in 2005, losing to Duke in the finals. In 2016, Tech defeated Clemson in the opening round before bowing out to Virginia.
• Tech has been the No, 13 seed in the ACC Tournament three times previously, in 2015, 2018 and 2023. Last year was the first time the Yellow Jackets won a game from that position.
• Fourteen of Tech’s 20 ACC games have been decided by single digits. Twenty-one of Tech’s 31 games overall this season have been decided by fewer than 10 points, second-most in the nation (Tech is 12-9 in these games). Fourteen games have been decided by five points or fewer.
• Tech’s seven ACC wins were earned by a total of 27 points. The Jackets’ nine-point win over Florida State was its widest margin of victory.
• Tech is 8-13 against Quad 1 (4-6) and Quad 2 (4-7) teams this season, with Quad 1 wins over Duke, Clemson, North Carolina and Wake Forest. Tech was 3-14 last season against Quad 1/2 foes.
• Four of Tech’s ACC wins came against the ACC’s four highest-ranked teams in the NCAA’s NET rankings - North Carolina (7), Duke (10), Clemson (27) and Wake Forest (37).
• Miles Kelly (14.1 ppg) leads three Yellow Jackets averaging in double figures this season, including freshman forward Baye Ndongo (12.0) and junior guard Kowacie Reeves, Jr. (10.0). Tech’s other rotation players average between 4.8 and 9.3 points per game.
• Tech has started two freshmen - Baye Ndongo and point guard Naithan George - in its last 27 games. 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.
