For Georgia Tech and Notre Dame, the best part of the season appears to have come later on schedule. After disappointing weekends, these teams will look to get back on track when they meet in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament on Tuesday in Washington. Notre Dame and Georgia Tech are tied for 12th place, with each team needing to win five games in five days to continue the season. No. 12 seed Notre Dame (12-19) continued its strong run down the stretch, winning five of six games, but lost its last two games. Georgia Tech (14-17), the No. 13 seed, won three straight games, including an upset over Wake Forest last week, and ended the regular season with a loss at Virginia. “When we don't make shots, we tend to not stay aggressive,” said Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudemire, whose team has won four of its last six games. Notre Dame won both regular-season contests 75-68 in overtime in Atlanta and won 58-55 at home in last month's rematch. Irish freshman Marcus Burton ranks sixth in the ACC with 17.3 points per game. He averaged 15 points in two games against the Yellow Jackets. Notre Dame, which lost its last two games against top-ranked North Carolina and Virginia Tech, shot a league-worst 40.6 percent from the field this season. That's a tough road to go in a game like Saturday, when the Irish allowed 15 offensive rebounds to Virginia Tech. “They wanted it more,” Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “All those offensive rebounds killed us.'' Miles Kelly is Georgia Tech's leading scorer with 14.1 points per game, but he has been plagued by injuries at times. “He's been having a hard time with his hip the last couple of weeks,” Stoudemire said. “He's been there, but there are limits sometimes.'' In the only previous ACC Tournament matchup, Notre Dame defeated the Yellow Jackets in the 2019 first round in Charlotte. The Irishman is still a newcomer to the ACC, but his .579 winning percentage ranks third in ACC tournament history. The winner will face No. 5 seed Wake Forest in the second round Wednesday afternoon. Both teams defeated Wake Forest in the final two weeks of the regular season. –Field level media
