ATLANTA- Georgia Tech took control early against Boston College and cruised to a 85-64 win over the Eagles to improve to 2-2 in ACC play Saturday in McCamish Pavilion. The 21 point win was the largest margin of victory in a league game since February 28th, 2023 when the Jackets downed Syracuse 96-76 on the road. It was Tech’s third straight win overall as they improved to 8-7 on the year.

Head coach Damon Stoudamire was pleased with his team’s all-around effort as they won back-to-back ACC games by double digits for the first time since 2021 when the ACC Tournament Champions beat Miami by 26 and Virginia Tech by 13 in back-to-back road wins. It was the first time since 2011 that Tech won back-to-back home ACC games by double digits when they beat North Carolina (78-58) and Wake Forest (74-39).

“Good win, a really good win for us this afternoon. I’m proud of our guys effort over the course of the last week. It has been a grind and we’ve had some really hard practices and do some things to get back to not even the winning way, but good habits. They executed the game plan, we wanted to keep BC off the offensive glass and did a good job on Hand. We adjusted after they got downhill and got under some ball screens. We did a good job with our principles of being inside out and I’m really proud of our defensive effort. When we share the ball we are really good. When we dribble too much I’m not as happy with it,” Stoudamire said.

Sophomore point guard Naithan George played distributor for the Jackets posting a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists.

“We got guys who can shoot and big guys and I’m going to tag the shooter and if not it is a lob over the top,” George said.

Starting senior guard Lance Terry ended up with 20 points and four steals including the game-capping dunk and one play.

Javian McCollum added 20 points off the bench, five rebounds and four assists off the bench for the Jackets.

Big man Baye Ndongo scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds.

Duncan Powell was big in the first half for Tech with 11 points off the bench in that half.

Ibrahim Souare blocked four shots for the Jackets.

“My boy Souare did a really good job and he had four blocked shots and he did a lot on the defense end. He gave me everything he’s got,” Stoudamire said. “The biggest thing about him is he is loyal. I can live with that, the good and the bad and I’m proud of him today. It was a good team effort and we did a good job on this five-game homestand of protecting it. Now we go on the road and that is different and we are playing Syracuse in the dome and playing in the dome is different and I played in the Georgia Dome with the Raptors and it is a different type of environment.”

Souare impacted the game away from the basket on offense setting screens and doing the dirty work on both ends of the court impressing his teammates including his high school teammate George.

“(Souare) always plays hard and even if he makes a mistake he keeps playing hard and he is making the most of his opportunity,” George said of his friend and teammate.

The Jackets shot 58.5 percent for the game and 47.1 from three in the win while holding BC to 42.4 percent and 5-15 from three in the game. Tech forced 13 turnovers and scored 18 points off turnovers compared to just nine committed turnovers turning into only six Eagles points.

The one lowlight was Tech’s free throw shooting, the Jackets were 15-27 from the line in the game.

Georgia Tech trailed very early in the first half before pulling away with improved defense and strong offensive play by Javian McCollum and Duncan Powell off the bench who combined for 22 points in the first half. Tech shot 60.7 percent from the field and 7-11 from three (63.6 percent) while holding BC to 41.9 percent and 3-7 from three. The Jackets finished the half +6 in rebounds as well.

For Boston College Chad Venning scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Elijah Strong added 16 points as the lone double-digit scorers in the game.

“Early in the year we got into the penalty and there are a lot of intricacies in the game, I wasn’t mad at the guys, but we changed some things and I didn’t like what I saw. When we can hold them to one possession and our guards are rolling and our bigs are playing well we are a different type of team. I can see in their eyes they believe now,” Stoudamire said.

Georgia Tech’s offense clicked early thanks to six assists from Naithan George as the Jackets led 21-17 in the first nine minutes of the half. The Jackets defense was lagging inside and Stoudamire used a timeout after being underwhelmed by the effort on that side of the ball. Tech hit three shots in a row to push the lead to 11 with 5:59 left in the half 35-24 leading to a BC timeout. Tech pushed the lead to 16 at the final media timeout 40-24 with 3:14 left in the half.

Boston College cut Tech’s lead to ten points during that stretch, but the Jackets pushed it back out to 17 thanks to a strong defensive effort after the first media timeout. Tech pushed the lead to 20, 61-41 with just under 13 minutes to play on a Ndongo free throw.

“We are making progress, I’m not satisfied, but unfortunately that take on my mantra and how I’m feeling and they tend to feel that, I have to act like a damn fool for them to understand that it is real. I played for guys who had to do that and I’m going to do whatever I have to do to get this team ready and prepared. I take it personally if we don’t play well. I might not show it or say it, but I go home and think about how to get this group better and each individual how to maximize how they can play better, but we need more. We are going on the road for our first ACC game this year and we are playing in the Dome and a team that hasn’t won an ACC game at the moment and they wants to turn their season, but I want go to war with these guys,” Stoudamire said.

Georgia Tech hits the road to face Syracuse Tuesday night followed by a trip to SMU on Saturday afternoon.