On Wednesday at 4:00 PM PT on ACC Network, Stanford men’s basketball will take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on the road. Stanford comes in at 16-8 overall and 8-5 in the ACC while Georgia Tech comes in at 11-13 overall and 5-8 in the ACC.
Last time out: Stanford defeated NC State at home on Saturday by a final score of 74-73. Ryan Agarwal made the game-winning layup.
RECAP: Stanford MBB squeaks past NC State
On Georgia Tech: Coached by former Portland Trail Blazers guard Damon Stoudamire, the Yellow Jackets are not having a good season overall as their record indicates. That said, they are 10-5 at home and have proven to be a tough team to beat on their home floor. They’re just abysmal on the road (1-7) and at neutral site games (0-1). They’ve been playing decently lately, winning three of their last five games.
The Yellow Jackets are led by senior guard Lance Terry, who is averaging 14.9 points per game on 44.2% shooting from the field, 37.7% shooting from 3-point range, and 70.0% shooting from the foul line. Four other players are also scoring in double figures in senior guard Javian McCollum (12.2 points), sophomore guard Naithan George (12.1 points), sophomore forward Baye Ndongo (12.0 points & 7.8 rebounds), and redshirt junior forward Duncan Powell (10.7 points & 5.4 rebounds). With five guys scoring in double figures, the Yellow Jackets have nice scoring balance.
As a team, the Yellow Jackets average 74.5 points per game on 44.4% shooting from the field, 33.8% shooting from 3-point range, and 65.8% shooting from the foul line. They average 36.8 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 6.5 steals, 3.6 blocks, and 11.9 turnovers per game. They also average a +0.2 rebound margin and a -0.3 turnover margin per game. Their opponents average 73.8 points per game on 42.5% shooting from the field, 35.7% shooting from 3-point range, and 71.4% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is feed Maxime Raynaud. He’s their best player, averaging 20.4 points & 11.7 rebounds per game. Stanford needs to do all they can to get him touches and get him going. Especially with this being a road game.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is control the glass. If they out-rebound Georgia Tech, that could make the difference as this is expected to be a close game. In close games, rebounding often makes the difference. If Stanford wins the rebounding battle, that’ll give them an edge in this one.
Finally, Stanford needs to make sure nobody gets hot. The Yellow Jackets do well when at least one of their guys score 20+ points. If Stanford can hold everyone to their scoring average, perhaps they’ll pull this one out.
Prediction: Given that Stanford narrowly beat NC State on Saturday, I’ll say Georgia Tech wins. One thing that makes it tough is Stanford could be getting guards Jaylen Blakes and Benny Gealer back, but even if they are back, it’s hard to know how guys will do in their first game back. Georgia Tech being at home I think will have the edge: Georgia Tech 75 Stanford 72 is how I see this one playing out.
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