Game Preview: Louisville at Georgia Tech

The Cardinals shoot for 11 straight in Atlanta.

Louisville Cardinals (16-5, 9-1) at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9-12, 3-7)

Game Time: 3:45 p.m.

Location: McCamish Pavilion: Atlanta, Ga.

Television: The CW

Announcers: Thom Brennaman (play-by-play) and Brian Oliver (analysis)

Officials: Tony Henderson, Greg Evans, Isaac Barnett

Favorite: Louisville by 8.5

Series: Louisville leads, 27-15

About Georgia Tech:

Georgia Tech hasn’t taken the type of step forward in year two under head coach Damon Stoudamire that Yellow Jackets were hoping for. GT enters Saturday’s home game against Louisville three games under .500 overall, 3-7 in the ACC and having lost five of their last six.

If there’s a positive for the Jackets at the moment it’s that they’ve played much better at McCamish Pavilion than they have away from it. All three of GT’s ACC wins have come at home, and their only two losses came against the formidable duo of Duke and Clemson.

Still, this is a Tech squad that has beaten just one team ranked in the top 100 according to KenPom, and none better than No. 78 Notre Dame.

There’s nothing that Georgia Tech does especially horribly (outside of free-throw shooting), but there isn’t anything that they do particularly well either. Their primary strength resides on the defensive end, but they’ve allowed strong performances against most of the better offensive teams on their schedule (Georgia, Duke, SMU, Florida State). Offensively, they don’t have any dynamic playmakers, so they try to create opportunities by pick-and-rolling teams to death and constantly screening away from the ball. So long as Louisville remains locked in, communicates well and plays with the appropriate level of physicality for 40 minutes, they should be able to effectively combat this.

Leading scorer Lance Terry (15.4 ppg) was sidelined last week but the flu, but returned to the floor for Tuesday night’s 71-68 loss at Notre Dame. The 6’3 senior who missed the entirety of the 2023-24 season with a calf injury didn’t even begin the season as a starter, but has emerged as its most consistent offensive threat. Terry is a lethal outside shooter who hits the three at an almost 40 percent clip. He’ll pull from just about anywhere on the floor. While he’s a spectacular leaper and dunker, Terry isn’t exceptionally quick off the bounce, which leads him to take a handful of bad shots pretty much every time out. He can make them, but he’s far more dangerous off the pass with a clear look at the rim.

Oklahoma transfer Javian McCollum is the guy I think most people expected to lead this team offensively. After a solid start to the season, McCollum suffered a head injury in Tech’s November loss to Cincinnati and has struggled to get back on track since then. He’s eclipsed the 20-point mark three times, but has struggled with consistency. Like Terry, he’ll shoot from pretty much any spot on the floor. He’s quicker with the ball than Terry is and more capable, I think, of having success in a game like this one, but his shot isn’t quite as deadly.

Sophomore returner Baye Ndongo earned All-ACC Freshman accolades this season and was a preseason All-ACC selection back in October. The 6’9, 240-pound native of Senegal hasn’t had the type of breakout season many were projecting, but he’s been solid. Ndongo is a terrific rebounder and can showcase some solid footwork and touch when he gets the ball in scoring position around the rim. His three best conference performances this season have come against Duke, North Carolina and Clemson, so expect him to be at his best on Saturday.

Nathan George is typically a pass-first point guard, but he’s coming off a season-high 20-point performance against Notre Dame where he was 9-for-11 from the field. George had some turnover issues earlier in the season, but he’s taken better care of the ball in recent weeks. He can also be a menace on the other end of the floor, and has notched three steals in each of Tech’s last two games.

Anything less than Georgia Tech’s A game shouldn’t be enough to beat Louisville, and even then, it would probably need to be accompanied by a performance we haven’t seen from the Cardinals in several weeks. But the Yellow Jackets could absolutely pull off the stunner if U of L inexplicably shows up in Atlanta and thinks that’s all they have to do to run their winning streak 11. We haven’t seen anything like that from the Cards since the calendar flipped to 2025. Here’s to not seeing it on Saturday.

Notable:

—Louisville has won 14 of its last 16 meetings with Georgia Tech, losing just twice to the Yellow Jackets since 1997.

—Louisville has won 10 consecutive games for the first time since a 10-game winning streak in 2020 that lasted from Jan. 7-Feb. 8 of that year. The Cardinals are looking for their first 11-game wining streak since the 2014-15 season.

—Louisville has won eight consecutive ACC games for the first time since that same 10-game winning streak in 2020.

—Louisville is 7-6 all-time in road games against Georgia Tech.

—Louisville is ranked in both major top 25 polls (No. 21 in AP, No. 22 in coaches) for the first time since the final week of January, 2021.

—Georgia Tech is 0-4 against AP Top 25 teams so far this season.

—Georgia Tech head coach Damon Stoudamire is 1-1 in games against Louisville.

—Georgia Tech is the only program that lost to Louisville more than once over the last two seasons. The Yellow Jackets were 1-2 in games against former U of L head coach Kenny Payne.

—Louisville is 5-2 in road games against Georgia Tech since joining the ACC in 2014-15.

—Louisville is 11-7 all-time against Georgia Tech when playing a national ranking. The most recent instance of this, however, was a loss, when No. 5 U of L fell 64-58 to the Yellow Jackets on Feb. 12, 2020.

—That 2020 loss snapped a 10-game winning streak for Louisville, the longest for the program since the current 10-game winning streak that the Cardinals are bringing with them to Atlanta.

—Georgia Tech is 0-5 in Quadrant-I opportunities so far this season.

—Louisville and Georgia Tech were founding members of the Metro Conference in 1975, but the Yellow Jackets left for the ACC in 1978.

—The Cards are 12-2 against the Yellow Jackets since joining the ACC in 2014-15. Of those 12 ACC wins over Georgia Tech, five have been decided by four points or fewer.

—Louisville and Georgia Tech played the first college basketball ever inside the Georgia Dome. The game was played in front of the largest crowd ever to witness a college game in the state of Georgia at the time (28,885). The Jackets won the game on a halfcourt buzzer-beater by James Forrest.

—Chucky Hepburn is 11th in the country in assists per game (6.4) and 13th in total assists (135). He’s also 11th in total steals (51) and 13th in steals per game (2.43).

—Reyne Smith is leading the country in made three-pointers per game (3.90) and total made three-pointers (82), and is third in total three-point attempts (201).

—James Scott is second in the country and first in the ACC in dunks with 49.

—Five Yellow Jackets are averaging double figures in scoring during ACC play – Lance Terry (15.1), Javian McCollum (14.1), Duncan Powell (13.3), Naithan George (11.5) and Baye Ndongo (11.0).

—Louisville is 14-0 over the past 10 seasons when limiting opponents to no more than one three-point field goal.

—Since 2004, Louisville is 134-0 when leading by more than 10 points at halftime.

—The Cards have led by 10 or more at halftime in each of their last four games.

—Louisville is 115-0 all-time when scoring 100 or more points in non-overtime games.

—Louisville has won 163 consecutive games when holding an opponent under 50 points.

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 79, Georgia Tech 70