How Can Georgia Tech End Its Three Game Skid This Week?

Georgia Tech is 11-11 and sits at 2-7 in the ACC and is in desperate need of a win on Wednesday night against California on the road. There are a few areas they can work on to improve that will get them out of danger of missing the ACC tournament and back into the middle of the pack. Let’s take a look at how the Yellow Jackets can end their three-game losing streak.

Faster Starts

latest — Jan 17, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets guard Jaeden Mustaf (3) runs with the ball during the first half of the game against the NC State Wolfpack at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

In a lot of these losses, the Yellow Jackets haven’t been able to recover after falling behind by double digits in the first half. They have had a mountain to climb to get back in games that they often can’t overcome. They need a start like how they had against Virginia Tech when they started the game on a 9-0 run against the Hokies and had them on their heels. Far too often, the Yellow Jackets have been behind the eight ball and have struggled to stay in games. A way to fix it is to get the ball into the hands of its two best players to establish a rhythm. I am talking about Kowacie Reeves and Baye Ndongo. They have been carrying the scoring load all season for the Yellow Jackets and need the ball in their hands to be effective early. If Georgia Tech can do that and apply some ball pressure early in games to set the tone, they should be able to have better starts.

Must fix the turnovers

It is something we have highlighted all year, but something that has to get fixed. Their 12 turnovers led to 18 points in their 91-75 loss to North Carolina. The live turnovers lead to easy fast break points, and momentum blows for the Yellow Jackets, which they can’t recover from. When they cut down on turnovers, they are a much better team and can compete with anybody. Head coach Damon Stoudamire talked about the turnover issue.

“The little things of oh, what you need to do, oh, it just seems like I'm saying the same thing. You know, each game, but we just have to figure it out. But you know, you can't have live ball turnovers and basketball. That's a killer. Again, I say it all the time. It's like a pick six in football. You know what I mean? It's draining, so to speak. It's draining. You gotta be able to rebound the ball, and we gave 20 seconds, gave up 20-second chance points. You know, yes, we need to clean that up, but it has to be a concerted effort. And I think that each guy on our team has to mean something to them. That's what I try to tell these guys and instil in these guys. Because my thing is that where I was and who I was as a basketball player wouldn't have made it if I didn't do the things that I'm talking about. It was just a part of what I had to do to be successful,” said Stoduamire.

A More Effective Way To Get The Ball To The Bigs

Georgia Tech, a lot of the time, struggles getting the ball to Baye Ndongo, Peyton Marshall, Cole Kirouac, or Mouhamed Sylla. Sometimes they go to possessions without touching them. That hurts with them getting off to a better start and a rhythm in games. This is also an area where they turn over the ball a lot. They will try to lob the ball for an alley opp or bounce pass in the post or a chest pass in traffic that leads to turnovers or players getting swarmed. There has to be a more effective way to get the ball. An area that needs to improve to slow down the turnovers and bad possessions on offense.

“It's the old adage, you know, when you go in there, you can't get too deep. You know, you've got to have an imaginary stop sign with what you're trying to do. And there were a couple of possessions where they just stick out at me, where we were trying to throw lives over over over the big fella. He's seven feet. So whether he jumps or not, if he just puts his hands up, he's 7’9,” said Stoudamire.

“So we just have to be better in our decision-making and not put ourselves in that position. And for me, that's the disappointing thing. These are not only things that we go and talk about, but these are things that we actually go over each and every day. And so we gotta figure those things out. It's part of it. You gotta be confident as a player. You gotta be confident in your ability. You can't have a waiver with that, know, especially when you're playing against a team like Carolina.”

If the Yellow Jackets can correct these three areas aligned here, they should be able to end the three-game skid and get back on track. It won’t be easy against California or Stanford, but it will still be very doable if they clean up their act.

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