Live Game Thread and Preview: Miami Basketball Vs. Georgia Tech

DATE: Saturday, February 24, 2024

WHERE: Coral Gables, FL, The Watsco Center

TIME/TV: 4:00 PM EST/ACC Network

LIVE AUDIO: 560 WQAM

MIAMI: Official Website | Schedule | Roster | Stats | Twitter

GEORGIA TECH: Official Website | Schedule | Roster | Stats | Twitter

LINE: MIAMI -8.5

Miami (15-12, 6-10 ACC) lost to Duke 84-55 at home in its last game.

Georgia Tech (11-16, 4-12, ACC) lost to Clemson 81-57 in its last contest.

Series History

This will be the 30th all-time meeting between Miami and Georgia Tech, with the Hurricanes holding a narrow 16-13 advantage in the series. Miami is 8-5 when playing the Yellow Jackets in Coral Gables.

Georgia Tech has won three of the last five meetings between the programs, including the only meeting in 2022-23, a 76-70 win for the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta.

Last Game

Miami recorded its fifth consecutive loss of Wednesday, an 84-55 defeat at the hands of the No. 8/7 Duke Blue Devils.

Juniors Wooga Poplar and Bensley Joseph co-led the Hurricanes in scoring with 15 points apiece. Forward Norchad Omier was one point shy of a double-double, finishing the night with nine points and ten rebounds.

Missing two starters in Matthew Cleveland and Nijel Pack on Wednesday, the Miami freshmen had to step up against Duke. Freshman Paul Djobet got his first career start, playing 19 minutes in the game. Freshman Michael Nwoko recorded a career-high seven rebounds and four made field goals in 21 minutes against Duke.

Notable Miami Statistics

A 2024 Karl Malone Top-10 candidate, Omier has emerged as one of the best players in the nation. He is one of just four Div. I players (Zach Edey, Hunter Dickerson, Enrique Freeman) are averaging 17.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, and a .500 field goal percentage this season.

The Hurricanes are 24-6 (.884) when Omier has a double-double since he joined the team (2022-23).

Nationally, Omier is one of six players to average 17.0 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, doing so in just 30.3 minutes of action, the fewest minutes played by all six players. Omier also has the second-highest true shooting percentage (includes 2FG, 3FG, and FT) of the six players at .647.

Omier has been one of the most dominant players in the ACC this season, ranking in the top 10 in six statistical categories. He is the only player to sit in the top seven in scoring and rebounding and is one of 16 players to record a 30-point game this season.

The Hurricanes are looking to stop a five-game skid on Saturday and have not lost six straight games since the 2020-21 season (they lost six straight toward the end of the season). Following that stretch, though, Miami rattled off three straight victories, including a pair of wins in the ACC Tournament.

Injuries have plagued the Hurricanes this season as Miami has missed a starter in nine of 16 ACC games. The Hurricanes are 2-7 in ACC games without a starter and 0-2 when playing at home. With all starters playing, Miami holds a 4-3 ACC record.

Miami ranks fourth in the nation (first in the ACC) in fewest fouls per game at 13.0.

Knocking down threes is vital to the Hurricane’s success this season, as Miami is 9-4 when connecting on ten or more 3-pointers. When its opponent tallies more threes than Miami, the Hurricanes hold a 6-9 record.

Good things happen for the Hurricanes when they:

> Record 15 or more assists (8-2)

> Shoot 50% or better from the field (8-1)

> Score 80-plus points (9-1)

> Hold opponent to 69 points or less (8-1)

> Have four players score in double-digits (13-3)

The Opponent

Notable Georgia Tech Statistics

Georgia Tech enters Saturday’s game with an 11-16 overall record and a 4-12 mark in ACC play. Like Miami, Georgia Tech is looking to turn things around, having lost eight of its last ten games. The Yellow Jackets’ only victories came over North Carolina and Syracuse.

Three Yellow Jackets are averaging double-digits this season, led by Miles Kelly at 14.4 points per game. Freshman Baye Ndonga paces the team in rebounding at 7.9 boards per contest.

Forward Ndongo has won the ACC’s Rookie of the Week honor three times this season (Dec. 2, Dec. 18, Dec. 26), most for a Yellow Jacket since current NBA star Josh Okogie did so during the 2016-17 season.

Junior guard Kowacie Reeves, Jr. (10.0). Tech’s other rotation player averaged between 4.8 and 9.0 points per game. Tech’s point guard tandem of Naithan George and Kyle Sturdivant has averaged 6.9 assists per game combined, 7.9 per game in ACC play. Both players rank among the nation’s top 80 players in assist rate (assists divided by the field goals made by the player’s teammates while he is on the court), according to KenPom.com.

Seven Tech players have scored at least 20 points in a game this season – George, Sturdivant, Deebo Coleman, Tafara Gapare, Reeves, Jr., Ndongo, and Kelly. It is only the second time that as many as seven different Yellow Jackets have scored 20-plus in a game during a season (2007-08).

Georgia Tech is 2-8 and true road games this season, 4-9 in games played away from McCamish Pavilion. The Yellow Jackets are 5-8 all-time at the Watsco Center.

Eleven of Tech’s 16 ACC games have been decided by single digits. Eighteen of Tech’s 27 games overall this season have been decided by fewer than 10 points, which is tied for second-most in Division I (Tech is 9-9 in those games). Eleven of those by five points or fewer.

Three of Georgia Tech’s ACC wins have come against the ACC’s three highest-ranked teams in the NCAA’s NET rankings – North Carolina (10), Duke (12) and Clemson (26).

Miami Athletics and Georgia Tech Athletics Contributed to this report

Talk with Canes Fans about the game on Inside Canes Hoops