Sturdivant Leads The Way On Senior Day

Tech Topples FSU At McCamish

“We’ve proven we can beat anybody. We’ve also proven we can lose to anybody.” So said Damon Stoudamire, reflecting on his inaugural year at the Institute. On this occasion, Senior Day 2024, Tech was a happy puzzle. They held off a good-not-great FSU team before pulling away in the final minutes for a 85-76 win before a nice crowd at McCamish on an early Saturday afternoon in early March.

The win was Tech’s third of their last four games and represents the first back- to- back wins in over two months.

Does this mean the the Jackets have turned a corner, found themselves, learned their identity ettc? Well, maybe.

As Stoudamire also said, much will be learned on Tuesday when the Jackets visit Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons hammered Tech by a few dozen when they last met. It was , Stoudamire noted, ” embarrassing “, So if this game vs the Seminoles means much, we should see a competitive effort in three days, and hopefully again vs Virginia in the regular season finale four days later in Charlottesville.

And there’s reason for hope– Tech’s best play this season has come against the better teams. Only one of the six league wins has been against a team .500 or under.

For now, Tech fans can enjoy the moment brought mainly by the Jackets ferocious rebounding. They outboarded Florida State by 22, an almost incomprehensible number, especially against these tall guys from Tallahassee. Rebounding of course is always important, and especially on this day when there were many rebounds to be had. Both teams shot in the low 30’s percentage- wise in the 2nd half, but Tech’s big edge on the boards led to 21 second chance points, vs 10 for FSU– and there’s the ball game.

Seminoles coach Leonard Hamiton was circumspect post-game, complimenting Tech’s effort and energy. Hamilton took the existential route in saying that the Jackets came closer to being ” who they are” than did his squad. That assessment rang true and the Senior Day vibe helped keep the team locked in on a positive result.

Tech’s seniors include 3 student managers and three players. Tyshawn Claude a grad transfer whose eligibility ends this year, has been a workhorse all season, as he was on this day, grabbing 10 rebounds. Carter Murphy , a grad transfer from Air Force.saw minimal action today- his one 3 point attempt missed the mark late in the game, but the fact that Tech’s other senior, Kyle Sturdivant, found him on the play was a crowd- pleaser in and of itself.

Which brings us to Mr Kyle Sturdivant, owner of 140 plus games in his college career, first at USC and then for four years at Tech. Sturdivant has been a stalwart for the Jackets, participating during a time of transition, playing a key role in 2021’s tournament run. Today he led all scorers with 20 points, including several big second half 3’s that helped keep the visitors down.

Tbe Jackets got out of the gate with a rare quick start. They were up 11-6 five minutes in, though that lead was slowly whittled into a tie score with a few minutes left in the first half before Tech was able to push it back to three at intermission..

The Jackets’ first half play was emblematic of the season– namely, moments of glorious success punctuated by episodes of puzzling failure. There were spectacularly athletic plays, then toss- away turnovers ( to total eight for the half). As Stoudamire later lamented, of Tech’s 16 total turnovers, “…. 10 of them were on us”, meaning unforced. Ouch.

And how do you overcome 16 turnovers? That impressive rebounding. Tech won the boards by 11 each half. Hamilton cited the Jackets’ energy and hustle in noting that his Seminoles just could not get their familiar rebounding edge on this day.

And when the two teams scored a combined total of 5 points in first four minutes of second half, there were more rebounds available. With overall frenetic play and good hustle, each team went ice cold.

Tech hit the double bonus shortly past the midway point of the second half and rode that advantage to maintain control and slowly widen their lead. Among those who led the way were Tech’s two promising freshmen, Baye Ndongo and Nait George.

Stoudamire offered additional praise to George, noting the progress he’d made during this season, from raw rookie to a more confident floor leader, one who can find – and make– the big shot or big pass at the big moment.

That being said, Tech’s Head Coach again reminded all that the next game against Wake would say much about the significance of this Senior Day win. And then on to Virginia followed by the ACC tournament where as Claude note with some pride” We’ll be a scary team to play”.