The Golden Bears (16-6, 4-5 ACC) enter the contest riding the momentum of two of their biggest wins in the last decade – an 84-78 home triumph over then-No. 14 North Carolina in their most recent home contest and an 86-85 road victory at Miami (Fla.) on Saturday.
Having won three of its last four, Cal suddenly finds itself being discussed nationally as an NCAA Tournament bubble team as it pursues its first Big Dance visit since 2016.
The focus must be on Georgia Tech, Cal coach Mark Madsen insisted in the wake of the dramatic win at Miami last weekend.
“We’re hoping for a nice, long postseason opportunity,” he assured reporters. “But we have to focus on the present right now. Our message is … focus everything on recovery, on preparation, on film, on exerting every ounce of energy on practice and the games.
“Exert yourself on the process of what we’re trying to do. If we do those things, we’re very hopeful.”
The Golden Bears will get their first opportunity to exact a measure of revenge against Georgia Tech (11-11, 2-7), which pulled out a 90-88 overtime thriller at home when the clubs dueled for the first time as ACC foes last February.
It could prove to be a tall task for the Bears, who were down to their fourth big man – seldom-used DK Dut – due to injuries and foul trouble for a key stretch of the Miami game. The South Sudan native, who had played a total of 26 minutes previously, had a difference-making tip-in and two blocks to help stall the Hurricanes.
The key to a repeat success over Cal, Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire indicated this week, will be to get the type of production from big man Baye Ndongo that he had in a 26-point, 13-rebound performance against Cal in last year’s meeting.
After having been held to a total of 25 points in his previous three games, Ndongo came to life with a 27-point explosion in a 91-75 home loss to North Carolina last Saturday, which was the Yellow Jackets’ sixth defeat in their last seven outings.
It could have been a bigger game for the 2025 All-ACC selection if not for a general inability to get the ball inside which resulted in just 12 shot attempts for the dominant big man.
“We just have to be better in our decision-making,” Stoudamire said. ” … You can’t have live-ball turnovers. That’s a killer. It’s like a pick-six in football. You know what I mean? It’s draining.”
