Washington, D.C. – Freshmen Naithan George and Baye Ndongo led Georgia Tech all the way back from a 17-point second-half deficit but, despite the valiant rally, the Yellow Jackets fell to Notre Dame, 84-80, in the opening round of the 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament on Tuesday at Capital One Arena.
George scored 24 points and dished out seven assists and Ndongo added 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds for 13th-seeded Georgia Tech, who trailed by 17 points in the second half before rallying to lead with less than a minute-and-a-half to go in the contest.
Tech trailed 65-48 with less than 13 minutes to go in the game, but went on a 30-12 run over the next 8-plus minutes, taking its first lead of the game at 78-77 on a pull-up jumper by George with 4:24 left on the clock.
No. 12-seeded Notre Dame hit a pair of free throws on its ensuing possession to regain a one-point advantage, but another pull-up jumper by George gave Tech the lead right back at 80-79.
The Jackets maintained the lead until Notre Dame’s Markus Burton hit a driving layup to give the Fighting Irish an 81-80 edge with 1:16 to go in the game. Georgia Tech committed turnovers on its next two possessions and the Irish hit 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch to hand the Jackets the heartbreaking defeat.
In its first season under head coach Damon Stoudamire, Tech collected marquee victories over North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Wake Forest and Mississippi State and finished 14-18 overall. The young Yellow Jackets graduate just one of their top seven players in terms of both minutes and scoring.
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