After getting a big win vs Stanford on Wednesday night, Georgia Tech looks to get their fourth win in the last five games when they face Cal this afternoon at McCamish Pavillion. Georgia Tech has been one of the grittiest teams in the country, able to overcome their injuries to key players and get big conference wins. Can they continue that today? It will be the first time that the two programs have faced each other in Atlanta.
California (12-13, 5-9 ACC) has lost four of its last five games and comes to Atlanta following a 78-57 defeat at No. 5 Duke Wednesday night. The Golden Bears won three in a row prior to that, including its only ACC road victory this season, a 65-62 win on Jan. 18. Cal is 2-7 on the road this season, 1-5 in ACC games.
A win Saturday would give Tech four straight ACC home wins, something the Yellow Jackets have not accomplished since winning its final five conference home games in the 2019-20 season.
Georgia Tech is now alone in 10th place in the ACC standings, a mere half-game out of 9th place (and a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament if the tournament were to begin today).
Georgia Tech has won three of its last four games and four of its last six. The Jackets are just one win shy of their ACC win total from 2023-24.
Georgia Tech is 11-5 on its home court after beginning the season 2-3.
Georgia Tech is the only ACC team to defeat both Clemson and Louisville, the teams tied for 2nd place in the standings, this season. The Jackets stopped a 10-game winning streak by Louisville, which has gone on to win 3-straight since, and stopped a 6-game win streak by Clemson, which responded by defeating Duke and North Carolina.
Georgia Tech has never trailed in a game only three times this season – West Georgia, Central Arkansas and Stanford.
All three of the prior meetings between Tech and California took place in the Golden State. The most recent meeting occurred on Nov. 23, 2012, a 68-57 Golden Bears victory in the semifinals of the DirecTV Classic in Anaheim, Calif.
The other two games were played on back-to-back days during the 1950-51 season as part of a West Coast holiday trip by Roy McArthur’s Yellow Jacket team. The Golden Bears routed Tech in both games. The Jackets also played at San Francisco the day before the first game with Cal, and lost that one as well.
Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire has never faced California in his head coaching career, but he was 6-2 vs. the Golden Bears as a player at Arizona, and 2-2 as an assistant coach with the Wildcats.
Naithan George has scored in double digits in 12 straight games, and 20-plus in his last three, after tallying a game-high 22 points against Stanford. The 6-3 sophomore has averaged 23.3 points (25-of-54 FG, 10-of-23 3pt FG, 10-of-13 FT) over that stretch, along with 6.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists.
George is averaging 15.3 points and 6.4 assists over Tech’s last 12 games. He has shot 45.7% (69-of-151) from the floor, 36.4% (24-of-66) from 3-point range, and 73.3% (22-of-30) from the foul line, during that stretch.
George leads the ACC in assist average with 6.2 per game (13th in the nation), and ranks No. 6 in assist/turnover ratio at 2.36 per game. He has posted 12 games of 7 or more assists this season. He ranks No. 34 according to KenPom in assist rate (assists divided by FG made by teammates while he is on the floor.
Only 3 other players in NCAA Division I besides George are averaging at least 12.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game this season (Steven Ashworth of Creighton, Braden Smith of Purdue and Bennett Stirtz of Drake.
George’s 291 career assists are the 6th most all-time in Tech annals through a Yellow Jackets’ first two seasons, and most since Drew Barry’s 305 from 1992-96.
Baye Ndongo notched his third double-double in Tech’s last four games with 15 points and 16 rebounds against Stanford. The 6-9 sophomore has averaged 15.0 points (25-of-49 FG) and 11.3 rebounds over the last four games.
Ndongo has 7 double-doubles this season (13 for his career), five of those against ACC teams – 15/16 vs. Stanford, 18/13 at Clemson (2/4), 12/11 vs. Louisville, 14/12 vs. Clemson (1/14) and 19/12 at North Carolina (12/7).
Duncan Powell has averaged 14.6 points and 5.6 rebounds over his last 12 games, including three games of 20 points or more. The Sacramento State transfer has hit 42.4% (59-of-139) from the floor, 38.8% (26-of-67) from three-point range and 71.4% (40-of-56) from the foul line in that stretch.
Powell’s numbers are even better over his last 7 games – 17.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 36.5% 3pt FG, 73.2% FT
Ibrahim Souare has started Tech’s last 8 games as injuries ravaged the Jackets’ rotation. The redshirt freshman has averaged 29.3 minutes, averaging 4.0 points (66.7% FG) with 5.1 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.
Jaeden Mustaf returned to action against Stanford after missing five games with a foot injury, scoring 7 points while playing 20 minutes.
Freshman Darrion Sutton has played more than 56 minutes in Tech’s last 2 games after totaling 54 minutes over Tech’s first 23 games (of which Sutton appeared in seven). He made his first collegiate start against Stanford, and made two key free throws in the final minute of play.
According to Fanduel Sportsbook, Georgia Tech is a 3.5 point favorite and the over/under is set at 146.5
Georgia Tech has turned into a good home team over the past few weeks and they are playing with momentum. How efffective will they be while still being so shorthanded? That is the question going forward, but they seem to be a resilient and gritty group. I think they continue their momentum today and get a win vs the Golden Bears and better position themselves in the ACC standings.
Final Score: Georgia Tech 75, Cal 70
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