Notre Dame @ Georgia Tech preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 10, 2019 ) Georgia Tech 59, Notre Dame 69

Notre Dame and Georgia Tech face each other for the third time this season Tuesday afternoon in the opening round of the 2019 ACC tournament from Charlotte, N.C. The two teams have split a pair of games so far in 2019, with the 15th-seeded Fighting Irish winning at home Feb. 10 and the 10th-seeded Yellow Jackets earning the win in Atlanta on Jan. 22.

It has been a tough season for a young Notre Dame squad that hasn’t notched a victory since that 69-59 win over the Yellow Jackets, dropping its final seven games of the regular season. In that win, the Fighting Irish overcame 32.8-percent shooting as junior guard TJ Gibbs scored 20, sophomore guard D.J. Harvey added 18 and junior forward John Mooney recorded one of his 13 double-doubles in ACC play. Three weeks earlier, Georgia Tech senior forward Abdoulaye Gueye had a clutch putback with 52 seconds remaining and sophomore guard Jose Alvarado nailed two late free throws to give the Yellow Jackets the 63-61 win over Notre Dame. Georgia Tech enters the tournament on a bit of a roll, having won two straight over Boston College and North Carolina State to finish the regular season.

TV: 2 p.m. ET, ESPN

ABOUT NOTRE DAME (13-18, 3-15 ACC): The Fighting Irish are coming off a 56-53 setback Saturday at Pittsburgh where the Panthers snapped a 13-game losing streak. Notre Dame relies heavily on Mooney (14.1 points per game) and he had one of his first bad offensive games of the season against Pitt, shooting just 1-of-11 from the floor — though he did haul in 13 rebounds. Gibbs (13.4 points) and freshman point guard Prentiss Hubb (8.2 points, four assists per game) will also be key for the Irish as the two have been forced to play 97 percent of a possible 560 minutes over the past seven games due to injuries.

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH (14-17, 6-12): The Yellow Jackets shocked N.C. State on Wednesday with a 63-61 win in Raleigh, N.C., where Alvarado (12.8 points, 3.3 assists) dribbled the length of the court before finding junior forward James Banks III (10.5 points) for the game-winning dunk with one second remaining. Georgia Tech was remarkably efficient on offense against the Wolfpack, shooting 58.1 percent from the floor while totaling 17 assists on 25 baskets. The Yellow Jackets attempted just five 3-pointers in the win, making one, and were last in the ACC with 553 attempts from long range on the season while finishing second-to-last in 3-point percentage (30.6).

TIP-INS

1. Harvey (third on the team with 10.7 points per game) is not available for the Fighting Irish after suffering a hamstring injury in practice early last week.

2. Mooney was named to the All-ACC third team while finishing runner-up for Most Improved Player.

3. Banks III, a 6-9 forward/center, was named to the ACC’s All-Defensive team.

PREDICTION: Georgia Tech 59, Notre Dame 57