Georgia
Men’s Hoops Cruises in Season Opener
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech men’s basketball opened the 2024-25 campaign with a 85-62 rout over visiting West Georgia on Wednesday evening at McCamish Pavilion.
Playing his first game in the White and Gold, Oklahoma transfer Javian McCollum led Georgia Tech (1-0) with a game-high 18 points. Kowacie Reeves Jr. added 15 points and Baye Ndongo chipped in 10 to round out three scorers in double-figures for the Yellow Jackets. Ten different players scored for the Jackets, who never trailed in the opener.
Thanks to five points from McCollum and four from Reeves, Tech raced out to an early 11-2 lead and never looked back. The Jackets closed the first half with a 26-13 run and led by 21 at the break, 50-29. The advantage never shrank to less than 20 in the second period, despite making just one field goal in the final nine minutes of the game.
Georgia Tech’s 23-point win was aided by seven assists from Naithan George and 10 rebounds from Colorado transfer Luke O’Brien, both game highs. McCollum had four steals to go along with his 18 points.
The margin of victory was the Jackets’ largest under head coach Damon Stoudamire, surpassing its 22-point win over Georgia Southern in last season’s opener.
Shelton Williams-Dryden led West Georgia (0-2) with 13 points.
Tech returns to action on Sunday when it hosts North Florida. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion and the game will be televised on ACC Network Extra.
Georgia Tech’s bench celebrates after Javian McCollum scores three of his game-high 18 points in Wednesday’s season opener vs. West Georgia. (photo by Eldon Lindsay)
POST-GAME NOTES
TEAM NOTES
- Tech is 39-7 in season openers since joining the ACC for the 1979-80 season, 37-5 when those openers are at home.
- Tech is playing its first seven games of the season at McCamish Pavilion, the longest homestand to start a season for the Yellow Jackets since 1980-81 The Jackets do not play away from home until Dec. 3 (ACC opener at North Carolina).
- Tech posted its largest margin of victory under Damon Stoudamire – 23 points. Tech’s largest margin of victory last year was 22 points in the Yellow Jackets’ season-opener vs. Georgia Southern (84-62).
- Tech shot 63.4 percent inside the arc (26-of-41).
- Tech scored 50 points in the first half and connected on 56.8 percent from the floor.
- Tech assisted on 20 of its 33 made field goals (60.6 percent).
PLAYER NOTES
- Javian McCollum’s 18 points against West Georgia got him over 1,000 points for his career. He began the season with 990 (590 in two seasons at Siena, 400 in his one season at Oklahoma).
- McCollum has scored in double figures 45 times in his career.
- McCollum’s four steals against West Georgia were one more than any player had for Tech last season.
- McCollum stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals against West Georgia.
- Naithan George had seven assists vs. West Georgia, the ninth time in his career he has dished seven or more. His career high in assists is 11 vs. Notre Dame, Jan. 9, 2024.
- Luke O’Brien posted his sixth career double-figure rebound game with 10 vs. West Georgia (the previous five all in the 2022-23 season). Career high 14 vs. Seton Hall on March 14, 2023.
- Kowacie Reeves, Jr., scored 15 points against West Georgia, his 14th double-figure game as a Yellow Jacket and 33rd of his career.
- Baye Ndongo scored 10 points with seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks against UWG. It was his 20th career double-figure scoring game.
- Damon Stoudamire is one of 19 head coaches at the NCAA Division I level who played in the NBA.
Naithan George dished out a game-high seven assists in the first game of his sophomore campaign. (photo by Eldon Lindsay)
MULTIMEDIA
PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO
Georgia
Trump flips Georgia in 2024 presidential election
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Georgia
FBI investigating bomb threats at Georgia polling places
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. – The FBI and Georgia election officials are looking into a series of bomb threats that forced some polling locations to temporarily close on Election Day.
The threats were reported throughout the day at polling locations in three metro Atlanta counties, all with large numbers of Democratic voters, and into the evening at Pennsylvania polling places and election offices where ballots were being counted.
Bomb threats were also reported in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, according to state election officials.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that Georgia would “not be intimidated” by any threats towards the voting process.
“That just shows you the resilience of our system and our people. We’re battle-tested,” Raffensperger said.
In Fulton County, 32 of 177 polling places received bomb threats and five were briefly evacuated. The polling locations were able to reopen after the threats.
Fulton County officials say an officer was stationed at each polling location for voter safety.
“We planned heavily for bomb threat and good thing we did,” one Fulton County law enforcement official said at an election update on Tuesday.
A voter enters the polling station at Lucky Shoals Park Recreation Center on Nov. 5, 2024, in Norcross, Georgia. (Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
In DeKalb County, six polling locations received bomb threats, including the Reid Coffer Library off LaVista Road in Tucker.
“I went around the Kroger to the main entrance, and I tried to turn left, and there were a bunch of cops and people saying ‘Don’t turn in. You have to come back later,’” voter Lelia Cryor said.
Thankfully, none of the threats were deemed credible. The FBI said many hoax bomb threats in several states appeared to originate from Russian email domains, though federal cybersecurity officials cautioned that the culprits were not necessarily Russian.
Raffensperger will give another update on the election at the Georgia Capitol at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
Georgia
Georgia live election results for the 2024 presidential race
Major issues in Georgia
Trump criminal case: Georgia is at the heart of former President Donald Trump’s attempt to overthrow the 2020 election. On Jan. 2, 2021, Trump called Raffensperger and other election officials, asking them to “find” 11,780 votes — or “one more vote than we have.” Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney Fani Willis charged Trump and 18 others with election interference, although the case is currently halted. Trump has denied wrongdoing.
Abortion: Georgia has a six-week abortion ban that went into effect after the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v Wade. Since then, the state’s Supreme Court has upheld the measure, despite efforts by pro-abortion rights groups. Vice President Kamala Harris has campaigned on the issue in the state, especially after the deaths of two women. An investigation found that the women’s deaths were preventable but were hindered by the state’s abortion ban.
Major races in Georgia
There aren’t any big-ticket races in Georgia this year. Firebrand Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who represents a district in north Georgia, is in a safe red district.
Both of Georgia’s Senate seats flipped Democratic in a special runoff election on Jan. 5, 2021, which Trump had campaigned extensively ahead of time to keep in GOP hands. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock was elected to finish a term, and he was reelected in 2022. The other Democrat, Sen. Jon Ossoff, will be up for reelection in 2026.
Trump tried to support primary challengers to Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in 2022, but they ultimately prevailed.
Polling in Georgia
A CBS News poll conducted in late September had Trump with a 2-point lead over Harris in Georgia, 51% to 49%.
What time do polls close in Georgia?
Polls closed in Georgia at 7 p.m. ET. More than 4 million people in Georgia voted early as of Friday, the last day of early voting, shattering records, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said.
-
Business5 days ago
Carol Lombardini, studio negotiator during Hollywood strikes, to step down
-
Health6 days ago
Just Walking Can Help You Lose Weight: Try These Simple Fat-Burning Tips!
-
Business5 days ago
Hall of Fame won't get Freddie Freeman's grand slam ball, but Dodgers donate World Series memorabilia
-
Business1 week ago
Will Newsom's expanded tax credit program save California's film industry?
-
Culture4 days ago
Yankees’ Gerrit Cole opts out of contract, per source: How New York could prevent him from testing free agency
-
Culture3 days ago
Try This Quiz on Books That Were Made Into Great Space Movies
-
Business1 week ago
Apple is trying to sell loyal iPhone users on AI tools. Here's what Apple Intelligence can do
-
Culture1 week ago
Try This Quiz on Spooky Novels for Halloween