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Notre Dame Hoops: Georgia Tech is a Must Win Game For Irish

By Chase Eyrich

BLACKSBURG, VA - JANUARY 01: Temple 'T.J.' Gibbs #10 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looks to dribble past defending Wabissa Bede #3 of the Virginia Tech Hokies in the first half at Cassell Coliseum on January 1, 2019 in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Lauren Rakes/Getty Images)
BLACKSBURG, VA - JANUARY 01: Temple 'T.J.' Gibbs #10 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looks to dribble past defending Wabissa Bede #3 of the Virginia Tech Hokies in the first half at Cassell Coliseum on January 1, 2019 in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Lauren Rakes/Getty Images) /
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Not much has gone right for Notre Dame in 2019. Falling to 1-4 in the ACC, there are not many games that the Irish can let slip by — Georgia Tech is one of them.

Mike Brey and the rest of the Notre Dame men’s basketball team knew that the month of January would be tough. It was a tall task from the beginning and as we near the end, the reality seems even more daunting.

Five of Notre Dame’s opponents this month are ranked in the Top 20, with three ranked in the top ten.

With Virginia and Duke ready to round out the month, Georgia Tech becomes a must-win game.

Of course, this was never going to be a great season for the Yellow Jackets, but things continue to take a turn for the worse.

Nothing seemed to go right for Georgia Tech against Louisville in their last time out. Shooting from beyond the arc was a luxury they could not afford. The Yellow Jackets failed to make a three-pointer until 14:45 left in the second half.

The Yellow Jackets, much like the Irish, were playing shorthanded without Brandon Alston, Abdoulaye Gueye and Jose Alvarado.

On the bright side for Georgia Tech, they have an extremely deep bench. Ten of their players are averaging over 14-minutes per game, a huge factor when missing three of your top producers.

That depth and overall balance will be one of the biggest things Notre Dame will have to work around.

Without knowing when Juwan Durham will return from his ankle injury, Coach Mike Brey was forced to take the redshirt off of freshmen Chris Doherty in the last game. In only seven minutes of action, he did a lot of the dirty work to prove his worth in this rotation.

With Doherty giving the short-handed Irish more to work with, John Mooney continues to terrorize the ACC while averaging a double-double this season.

Notre Dame is looking for more production on the offensive end after experiencing many shooting slumps from across the roster. One player the Irish are looking for more from is Dane Goodwin, who just posted a 19-point performance on Saturday.

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While facing so much depth in a team like the Yellow Jackets, Notre Dame will look for more of a balanced attack in search of their second ACC win.