Georgia Tech closes out regular season Saturday at Virginia

Saturday’s affair in Virginia could have a bit of a funny feel to it for Georgia Tech.

By the time the Yellow Jackets tip off against the Virginia Cavaliers at 8 p.m., they very well may know their ACC tournament seed, tipoff time and opponent for Tuesday’s opening-round game. Boston College, Notre Dame and Miami all play earlier Saturday, and the results each of those teams are handed, coupled with certain tiebreaker scenarios, may make Tech’s matchup with Virginia meaningless when it comes to those matters.

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Of course, for coach Damon Stoudamire and company, the name of the game regardless of the scoreboard is continuing to play at a high level like it has been. Besides, the Jackets will have to win five games in five days anyway next week in Washington, D.C., to make the NCAA Tournament.

“We were put in this position for a reason, and we’re playing as well as anybody in this conference right now, period,” Stoudamire said Friday. “So why not us? Why can’t we? It don’t matter where we at, it just matters can we do the job moving forward. So that’s how I look it, and that’s what I’ve been conveying to the fellas.”

Tech seemingly has turned a corner in its past three outings, but it’s a turn that Stoudamire and his team say dates to an 80-51 loss at home to Wake Forest on Feb. 6. The Jackets (14-16, 7-12 ACC) are 4-3 since that day and, more important, unbeaten in their past three – a streak that includes a redemptive, last-second victory against the Demon Deacons on the road Tuesday.

During the current win streak the Jackets are shooting 47.3% overall from the field, 40.7% from 3-point range, averaging 17 assists per game and out-rebounding the opponent by an average of 43.3-30.6. Sophomore Tafara Gapare has become the individual catalyst that Tech had hoped he would be all along by averaging 8.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 blocks per game over the past three.

Tech will need similar numbers as a team and from Gapare on Saturday to win what would be their fifth victory over a Quad 1 opponent and sixth triumph over one of the top seven teams in the ACC standings.

“I haven’t pushed a magic button. The thing that I’ve been doing is preaching every single day the same thing, and we finally, collectively, figured it out and they’re rallying together,” Stoudamire said. “I haven’t done a thing different than I’ve done all season. I promise you I haven’t done a single thing. I’ve been emphasizing the same points all year long, and I think now guys have finally seen that those things, they relate to winning. When you get a little equity in that and some wins, then you start to believe.

“I think that’s what you’re seeing, you’re seeing a team that believes in itself. That’s to be attributed to them. How we move forward, I think, is going to be attributed to them. I promise you I’m not one of those guys that’s gonna sit up here, ‘Oh, I told you so!’ No, they’re playing better. Them guys (are) locked in. They’re committed to each other, and that’s what teams do. You commit to each other. As a coach you’re just giving instruction. You see an adjustment, you make it, but they’re committed to each other, and they’re talking on both ends of the floor and holding each other accountable. That’s a beautiful thing to see.”

Virginia (21-9, 12-7 ACC) has won at least 18 games for the 13th consecutive season, but needs to beat Tech on Saturday for a few different reasons. A victory would give the Cavaliers the No. 3 seed in next week’s ACC tournament and keep their hopes of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament alive and well.

Coach Tony Bennett’s squad is 14-2 at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville this season and has had a full week to regroup after a 73-48 loss at Duke on March 2. That team will try to replicate the game plan that worked Jan. 20 in McCamish Pavilion where the Cavaliers beat Tech 75-66.

Tech has lost 11 consecutive to Virginia overall and hasn’t won in Charlottesville since 2008 (a string of nine consecutive defeats).

“Just wanna keep the focus on us, to be honest with you,” Stoudamire said. “That’s what we’ve been doing. Virginia hasn’t really changed that much. They do the same thing. They’re really good at doing the same thing. We just wanna go into the game and have good offense, play good defense and minimize mistakes on both ends of the floor, and that will give us our best shot of winning.”