What To Watch For Vs. Notre Dame
They might have just played only two weeks ago, but the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-11, 4-6) are primed for a conference rematch with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (X). This time, the Yellow Jackets will be heading on the road to face the Irish, as they will square off from the Purcell Pavilion up in South Bend, IN. Tip is set for 12:00pm EST on Saturday, February 1st and can be viewed on your Regional Sports Network.
Here are a couple of the more significant storylines to follow ahead of Tech's 24th all-time matchup with the Fighting Irish:
Similar Struggles
Prior to Georgia Tech's wins against both NC State and Morehouse, a concern as of late was that the Yellow Jackets struggled in late game execution and could not close the door on opponents.
Ever since Notre Dame's 78-74 win over the Yellow Jackets back on January 15th, they have struggled with a bit of the same problem and are 1-2 since facing Tech. Their losses to Syracuse and Florida State have been by a combined 3 points, and they were only up by 5 with a minute to go against Wake Forest in their lone win during that stretch.
While Tech has not been to the Big Dance since the 2010 season, the Fighting Irish have also not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2017. Both teams are multiple seasons removed from their last appearance, and fighting for their life for their next berth is something to be expected from both teams.
Unstoppable Force vs. Immovable Object
The rematch between the Fighting Irish and Yellow Jackets will be even more intriguing this time around simply because of the locale at which it is played. Heading into this game, Notre Dame has been able to defend home court for the majority of this season with a 10-3 record. Conversely, the Jackets have been 5-5 away from McCamish Pavilion while posting just a 5-6 record on their own court.
Next Man Up
Against Morehouse, the entire available roster was utilized in Georgia Tech's 82-54 win over the Maroon Tigers. While getting all that valuable playing time to the bench was important to preserve the starting lineup, it served a bigger and more immediate purpose.
In both wins against Morehouse and NC State, sophomore shooting guard Michael Devoe sat out with a sore left foot, and had been confined to a walking boot throughout the week. If head coach Josh Pastner has learned anything from this season, he will not rush Devoe back from injury. Self admittedly, he brought back Jose Alvarado from injury way before he was ready. The junior point guard had a -/+ of negative -15 in the 82-78 loss to Georgia, played only 18 minutes, then proceeded to miss the next 6 games.
There's no question that Devoe is an important piece of this team and an integral part of a potential run at the tournament. However the best-case scenario for this team is to wait until Devoe is 100%, especially since the Ramblin' Wreck has won both games without him on the floor.
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