All Georgia Tech needs to do is win four games in four days this week. The Yellow Jackets, however, have won four consecutive games once during the 63-game tenure of coach Damon Stoudamire.
But as unlikely as it is that Tech can reel off four victories in a row at the ACC tournament at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, there isn’t a shortage of confidence or belief — as is the case for most teams this time of year.
“There’s a lot of excitement,” Tech point guard Nait George said Monday. “We’re trying to make something happen, and I feel like this is a group that can really do it because our connectivity is there, and we really just wanna win for each other. And especially for our seniors, too. We really wanna win and show everybody what we can do.”
George and fellow sophomore Baye Ndongo have been the catalyst for Tech’s improved play over the final 12 games of the regular season, in which the Jackets (16-15) went 8-4. Tech proved over the course of that span it could beat quality teams like Clemson, Louisville and Stanford. It also showed how small its margin of error could be in losses to Wake Forest, Boston College and Virginia.
And speaking of Virginia, that’s who Tech draws for its noon Wednesday matchup in the second round of the tournament. The Cavaliers (15-16) beat Tech 75-61 in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Feb. 8, the 13th consecutive victory for the Cavaliers over Tech.
“More importantly than a game plan for me, honestly, is we gotta go in here feeling good about ourselves and confident. That’s the biggest thing,” Stoudamire said. “I think getting off to a good start is gonna be important. I think putting Virginia in a deficit is important. They’re a totally different team when they’re playing with a lead compared to when they’re playing come-from-behind.
“I think that is the biggest cause for concern for me is how good we feel as a team going into Wednesday afternoon. Last time we played ‘em there was a lot of things that was stacked against us. It is what it is because it’s not about the last game. So we’re looking at this a little bit different.”
Tech didn’t have freshman guard Jaeden Mustaf in that February loss, and leading scorer and senior Lance Terry tried to play through an injured shooting wrist. Terry missed all four shots that he took and was scoreless.
Virginia honored former coach Tony Bennett that day at John Paul Jones Arena in front of 14,637 fans. The Cavaliers led for 34 minutes and by 17 points late in the second half.
Tech would go on to win five of its final seven games after that loss. Virginia went 3-4.
“Everything goes back to your previous experience,” Virginia coach Ron Sanchez said Monday about the first meeting between the two sides. “You gotta tap into something very tangible. The way that the last game was played is gonna be studied by both staffs for sure. You’re gonna try to repeat the things that you did well and try to remedy the things that you did poorly. They’re gonna do the same thing: They’re gonna try to stop us from doing the things that we did well, and they’ll try to do the things that they did well consistently.
“At this point in the year, there aren’t many surprises. We are who we are. You’ve already settled into how you’re gonna play offensively, defensively, what are your tactical things, what are your adjustments? There really aren’t many surprises. There’s so much video now, I don’t think there are any surprises anywhere. You just gotta be the best version of yourself and just bring a reckless abandon and tremendous amount of energy into the game.”
The ACC tournament has not been kind to Tech in recent history. Since 2011, the Jackets are 5-12 in the event. They did win the tournament title in 2021 but had to win only two games to do so. Tech didn’t qualify for the 2020 tournament, which was canceled after two rounds because of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nine times since 2011 the Jackets have left the tournament after one game, including Stoudamire’s ACC tournament debut in 2024 when the Jackets lost to Notre Dame in Washington, D.C.
On Wednesday, if Tech can figure out a way to eliminate Virginia, it will be rewarded with a game against top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Duke at noon Thursday.
“Right now, I’m focused on Tech, and I think it’s all about Tech. We’re trying to do something here, and we’ve come a long ways, and we don’t wanna look backwards,” Stoudamire said. “And so that’s how I look at it, and that’s how the guys are looking at it. We’ve made tremendous strides. Obviously, we’re excited that we put ourselves in position to get a bye and then put ourselves in position to where we’ll be playing on Wednesday afternoon and have an opportunity. That’s all I really care about.”
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