Cole Certa's career-high 37 lift Notre Dame over Georgia Tech

Field Level Media|published: Sat 14th February, 14:32 2026

NCAA Basketball: Georgia Tech at Notre Dame

Feb 14, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Carson Towt (33) and guard Logan Imes (2) celebrate against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

Sophomore guard Cole Certa set career highs with 37 points and seven 3-pointers on Saturday to help Notre Dame breeze past Georgia Tech for an 89-74 Atlantic Coast Conference victory in South Bend, Ind.

Braeden Shrewsberry added 20 points while Logan Imes had 14 points and nine rebounds for Notre Dame (12-14, 3-10 ACC), which snapped a five-game losing streak. Carson Towt finished with eight points and nine rebounds for the Fighting Irish, who played without star freshman Jalen Haralson (15.5 points per game) due to a sprained ankle.

Kowacie Reeves Jr. scored 16 points to lead Georgia Tech (11-15, 2-11), which dropped its seventh straight game. Baye Ndongo posted 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds while Jaeden Mustaf chipped in 14 points and Akai Fleming scored 13.

After building a 12-point halftime lead, Notre Dame pushed the margin to 18 with 15:53 to play as Towt's layup stamped an 8-0 run. The Fighting Irish took their first 20-point lead on Certa's layup with 13:06 left.

Georgia Tech got its deficit down to 15 on a Mustaf free throw, but Imes' 3-pointer began a 9-0 spurt to push the lead to 68-44. Fleming's 3-pointer stopped the bleeding and ended a 4:57 scoreless drought for the Yellow Jackets.

After Fleming made a pair of foul shots to narrow the deficit to 20, Certa's 3-pointer and subsequent layup gave the Fighting Irish a 78-53 advantage. Georgia Tech finished the game on a 21-11 run in the lopsided affair.

Reeves scored the game's first basket to give Georgia Tech its only lead. Shrewsberry hit a 3-pointer to hand Notre Dame a 16-10 lead before six straight Yellow Jackets points knotted the score with 11 minutes left in the first half.

Certa drilled consecutive triples to give the Fighting Irish a 29-20 edge with 7:13 remaining. Notre Dame grabbed a 12-point lead on Towt's layup.

Certa's hot shooting continued when he drilled his fifth 3-pointer of the half to give Notre Dame a 45-33 halftime lead. Certa scored 21 first-half points while Shrewsberry had 14 for the Fighting Irish, who connected on 11 of 19 3-point tries before halftime. Reeves' 14 first-half points paced Georgia Tech.

--Field Level Media