Georgia Tech basketball looking to make push toward ACC tourney

Even after a 75-61 defeat at Virginia on Saturday, Tech (11-13, 5-8 ACC) has gone 3-2 in its past five games. That’s no small feat given two of those three wins came against ACC title contenders Louisville and Clemson, respectively, and when considering the Yellow Jackets are fighting with a roster that virtually shrinks by the day.

Senior guard Lance Terry, who has been battling through a right hand and wrist issue for much of the season, was rendered ineffective Saturday at Virginia because of his injury. While he was able to suit up and play, guards Jaeden Mustaf and Kowacie Reeves and forward Luke O’Brien remained inactive.

Mustaf was in full uniform and went through pregame warm-ups Saturday. Stoudamire said Monday during his weekly radio show he wasn’t ready to declare Mustaf available for Wednesday’s game against Stanford. Terry is expected to continue to play through the pain and discomfort in his shooting hand.

Tech also was without point guard Javian McCollum at Virginia. McCollum was injured after a hit to the head Feb. 4 at Clemson.

Stoudamire, meanwhile, lauded his team’s ability to deal with all the injury adversity that has been thrown in its face through the first three months of the season.

“We know, and they know, that we’ve dealt with a lot,” the second-year coach said. “Mentally, I think their approach has gotten better each and every practice, each and every game. I think that the maturity of the team, in terms of what we’re trying to do, has been really great. The biggest thing, I think, they feel is that the worst is behind us. We’ve played some of our best basketball all season shorthanded.

“They’re believing, and I always believed, so it’s a testament to who they are because they haven’t caved in. It not only shows a lot of grit, a lot of will, but it shows the character of the person as well. Because it’s easy to roll over right now, and they just haven’t done it.”

Stanford crosses the country to face Tech at 7 p.m. Wednesday and then Duke on Saturday. The Cardinal are coached by Kyle Smith, a former San Francisco coach who went up against Stoudamire when Stoudamire coached Pacific during the latter part of the past decade.

Smith said Monday he and Stoudamire had some fierce recruiting battles then, and that he tried to recruit Tech center Baye Ndongo to Washington State when Smith coached there from 2019-24.

“We’ve had some wars. His teams play so hard,” Smith said of Stoudamire. “Winning at Pacific, whoa, what a challenge. He did a great job. He landed in a great spot (at Tech), and he’s doing a good job. It’ll be nice to see him.”

Stanford (16-8, 8-5 ACC) is led by Maxime Raynaud, a 7-foot-1, 245-pound senior from France who is an ACC player-of-the-year candidate. Raynaud is averaging 20.4 points, 11.7 rebounds and a block per game.

The Cardinal have never played in McCamish Pavilion, but did beat Tech at Philips Arena in 1999. Tech and Stanford have played only three times and not since 2000.

After Wednesday’s game, Tech hosts California at 4 p.m. Saturday before a week off ahead of a trip to Boston College (10-13, 2-10 ACC) on Feb. 22.

“We have seven conference games to go. We feel like each one of those is winnable,” Stoudamire added. “It’s just a matter of taking one game, one practice at a time and then, hopefully, sprinkle in some healthy bodies along the way. Anything can happen, now.”