Six Big Takeaways From Georgia Tech's Blowout Loss to Wake Forest

Georgia Tech scored a season-low 43 points against Wake Forest at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets struggled from the field and couldn’t build any momentum on offense, going through several scoring droughts throughout the game, which allowed Wake Forest to pull away and put their stamp on the game. Georgia Tech has now finished the regular season 16-15 and will be in action next week in the ACC tournament in Charlotte, where it will face Virginia in the second round. Here are some instant takeaways from their disappointing loss on Saturday against Wake Forest.

1. Georgia Tech finished with 16 turnovers and lost the rebounding battle- Wake Forest took advantage of the Yellow Jackets turnovers converting them to 23 points. It was a sloppy day for Georgia Tech who kept turning over the basketball leading to easy transition buckets for the Demon Deacons. It seemed throughout a lot of the game that Georgia Tech was pressing and trying to create chances instead of letting the game come to them. In the end, this harmed them and allowed Wake Forest to pull away and take full control of the game thanks to a 12-1 run to end the half. Georgia Tech rarely loses the battle on the glass and is one of the better rebounding teams in the ACC. Wake Forest won the battle 42-40. Now, that is not a big advantage but the Demon Deacons were good on the offensive glass finishing with 13 offensive rebounds. Those rebounds led to 12 second-chance points. When the Yellow Jackets were able to get stops, Wake Forest did a good job of keeping the ball alive and making it difficult for Georgia Tech to box them out, leading to more opportunities after misses.

FINAL: Wake Forest 69, GT 43
— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) March 8, 2025

2.Wake Forest senior day was a success- Probably not something the Yellow Jacket faithful wanted to hear, but the senior core for the Demon Deacons was a problem and you could tell it meant more to them. Hunter Sallis, Cameron Hildreth and Efton Reid III all scored in double figures in the win on Saturday. Sallis finished with 13 points, five rebounds, and four assists. After scoring zero points in the game before, Hildreth finished with a team-high 14 points. Reid III finished with a double-double recording 12 points and 13 rebounds and was on fire from three-point range. The trio combined for 39 points and Georgia Tech had no answers for slowing them down.

3. Georgia Tech struggles from the field- It was an abysmal shooting effort for Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon as they shot 29.6% from the field. An area where they really struggled was from beyond the arc. It was a surprise because the Yellow Jackets have been shooting the three-ball well as of late. Georgia Tech shot 3-23 from the three-point line and simply couldn’t get the ball to go in the basket. In the first half, they were just 2-17 from beyond the arc. In a game like this, the Yellow Jackets didn’t have any rhythm, which contributed to their struggles from three-point range. This iteration of the Yellow Jackets is very streaky when it comes to shooting and may have to get some easy baskets in the paint and around the rim to help get their three-point shooting going. There is no question they can shoot it, but when they are struggling mightily as they have done on the road a lot this season, an easy basket could be a solution to tough shooting woes.

4. Baye Ndongo records another double-double- Probably one of the few bright spots on Saturday was the performance of Ndongo who finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds. He continues to show why he deserves more touches and the ball especially when the team is struggling. He also finished with two blocks on defense and did a good job of rotating and impacting shots. He did however struggle with four turnovers on the day. Wake Forest did a good job swarming him and poking the ball loose when he got it in the post. Moving forward, he will need to clean up the turnovers but has proven he deserves more touches, especially in the first half when the team is struggling.

5. Georgia Tech Young players getting more and more comfortable- Ibrahim Souare is beginning to emerge as a player and big that coach Damon Stoudamire can trust. He finished with a near-double-double recording eight points and 11 rebounds. He led the team in rebounds on Saturday and has gotten better with each game. He and Ndongo continue to form a formidable frontcourt for the Yellow Jackets and a unit they can trust to play together and lead to easy buckets. True freshman Jaeden Mustaf was another bright spot for Georgia Tech. He was the second-leading scorer for the Yellow Jackets finishing with 12 points on Saturday. Mustaf looks to be more in a rhythm as of late and the game is coming to him. He knows how to pick his spots on the floor and also when to drive to the cup and get a bucket at the rim. Mustaf has a bright future ahead and will be a good backcourt piece for Georgia Tech moving forward.

6. Georgia Tech's chances at a No. 7 seed now over- After a horrid performance and a season-low 43 points, the Yellow Jackets will finish as an No. 8 seed going into the ACC tourney. The Yellow Jackets could have finished as high as No. 7 seed with a win and a Stanford loss at Louisville but couldn’t uphold their end of the bargain. They now will face Duke in the quarterfinals if they handle business in their second-round matchup. Duke is a national contender and will be a tough team to overcome, especially when they are on their game. With a No. 7 seed, Georgia Tech could have avoided Duke until the ACC championship game if they went on a run. Now they will have a more difficult road if they want an opportunity to try and make some noise in the tourney next week in Charlotte.

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