YELLOW JACKETS STING CAVALIERS, ADVANCE TO ACC QUARTERFINALS

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 8 seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (17-15) outlasted the No. 9 seed Virginia Cavaliers (15-17), 66-60, to advance to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, ending the Cavaliers’ season. 

Despite a late surge featuring an 8-0 run from the Cavaliers, Tech’s second half performance dismantled Virginia’s hopes for a victory. 

“Great second half by our guys,” Georgia Tech head coach Damon Stoudamire said. “I thought we did a really good job in the first half defensively. But we didn't do a great job offensively. 

“I thought in the second half, we spaced the floor, and we started to find some different things that we could get at on the offensive end, and I think that Nait started it. He was getting downhill, and then I think he helped everybody else.”

The Yellow Jackets broke out to a 10-point lead, thanks to junior forward Duncan Powell, who tallied 15 second half points. He paced Tech’s three double-figure scorers with 21 points. 

“I thought Duncan at the four was going to be really good for us because it matched up with us, and it allowed Jae Mustaf to guard a perimeter,” Stoudamire said. “The last time we played them, we had Duncan playing the perimeter, and that's tough to chase like that against guys that they have, and especially the way they play.”

Sophomore forward Baye Ndongo followed closely in Powell’s footsteps, notching a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double. Fellow sophomore guard Naithan George joined Ndongo in double-double territory with 13 points and 10 boards of his own. 

“We got one of the best post guys in the country with Baye Ndongo, so that makes everybody's job way easier when we've got a threat like that inside,” Powell said. 

Ndongo finished the first half with 10 points, leading all Yellow Jackets scorers, shooting a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line, as George dished out eight assists—two away from a triple-double.

“Having these guys around me, they make it easy, as well,” George said. “Really just playing the right way is kind of what I emphasized in the playoff. 

“But having Duncan on the floor, but also post up, Lance who can shoot, attack close-outs, Baye who can conceal, rebound, dunk, and shoot. Just having those guys around me, they just make it a lot easier, but just playing the right way is the main thing.”

The opening half of Ron Sanchez’s first ACC Tournament game as Virginia’s head coach was reminiscent of the Tony Bennett era: low–scoring and defensively sound. 

Both programs tallied 25 points in the first half, settling in offensively after a rocky start.

“It gave us the opportunity to go into the second half 0-0 pretty much,” Powell said.  

The Cavaliers recorded five steals to the Jackets' none, courtesy of Virginia guard Andrew Rohde, who snatched three himself. Rohde ended with a game-high four steals—matching Tech’s total steal count while Virginia tallied 10. 

Virginia and Tech went scoreless from the field for over six minutes in the first half, until Issac McKneely ended the drought with a pull-up jumper from the paint. McKneely paced the Cavaliers in scoring in the first, notching 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from distance. 

His sharp shooting kept Virginia in the lead, and his consecutive triples put the Cavaliers up four after their 6-0 run. However, Virginia had little help from Tech’s offense, or lack thereof, in the first half. 

McKneely led all scorers with 27 points, burying seven three pointers—the sole bright spot on the Cavaliers offense. The rest of Virginia’s roster combined for 33 points, with the next leading scorers being Jacob Cofie with nine and Elijah Saunders with eight. 

Under Sanchez’s guidance, Virginia failed to advance past the second round of the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2011, when the Cavaliers fell to No. 9 Miami, 69-62, in overtime.

“I've known Ron a long time, and you're always pulling for people in the business,” Stoudamire said. “He's a good man. He's a good guy. Just kind of told him [after the game] he did a great job, and he'll figure things out, and hopefully you're able to get the job.”

“When we're on our game offensively, we're tough to guard. We've got guys that can play in pockets, two on the ball and things of that nature, and then when we do switch, we do a good job of attacking close-outs and finding buy on the inside, so just really proud of our guys and things that they did”

Georgia Tech will face the No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils and Cooper Flagg on Thursday, March 13 at noon ET on ESPN2. 

“I think that Duke is a team that—obviously they're different,” Stoudamire said. “They're long. They're athletic. I look forward to the game, though, to be honest with you.

“At the end of the day, the one thing I do know going into this game is that we're playing our best basketball of the season. It's going to be a task, but we'll go in there, and we can't fear them. We've got to do the things that we need to do. It's a challenge, but I think that we're all looking forward to that.”