Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech plan to 'take a stand'

With both teams coming off decisive losses to ranked foes, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech seek turnarounds when they meet Tuesday in Blacksburg, Va.

Both teams have struggled lately. After starting 12-2, the Hokies (15-6, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) have lost four of their last seven games to drop out of the top 50 in the NCAA's NET rankings. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets (11-9, 2-5) have dropped five of their last seven.

Heading into this matchup, the words of Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire apply to both teams.

"There becomes a point in your season where you gotta take a stand," Stoudamire said Saturday after the Yellow Jackets fell at home to then-No. 18 Clemson, 77-63.

The loss came after Georgia Tech gained its best win of the season, 78-74, at North Carolina State. Against Clemson, however, the Yellow Jackets' familiar flaws were exposed. They allowed the Tigers to shoot 45.9% from the floor and make 11 3-pointers.

"We played hard enough to win, but our attention to detail wasn't great," Stoudamire said.

A leg injury to 6-foot-10 freshman Mouhamed Sylla has reduced Georgia Tech's presence inside.

Sylla, who logged double figures in points and rebounds in five of his first six college games, returned last week after missing four of five games but scored just one point and collected three rebounds in limited minutes.

The Yellow Jackets rely on Kowacie Reeves Jr. (16.3 points per game), Baye Ndongo (11.4 ppg, 8.0 rebounds per game) and Lamar Washington (11.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 6.1 apg).

Virginia Tech shot well enough to be worthy of a mild upset Saturday at No. 23 Louisville. But the Hokies were done in by their lack of production inside in their 85-71 loss.

The Cardinals dominated the glass, 44-31, and had 36 points in the paint compared to 14 for the Hokies.

"Their bigs moved their feet. They do a good job and they made us take tough 2s. That's what their defense is built to do," Virginia Tech assistant J.D. Byers said in a postgame radio interview.

After scoring a combined 38 points in Virginia Tech's previous two games -- wins over Notre Dame and Syracuse -- high-flying Tobi Lawal had just two points on 1-of-7 shooting.

Jailen Bedford (24 points) and Ben Hammond (18 points) made a combined 10 of 13 shots from 3-point range to keep the Cardinals from running away.

--Field Level Media