Georgia Tech needed a win over Georgia in men’s basketball and the tension was high in front of a nearly packed house on Friday night in Athens for the Jackets in what was the first road game with a large hostile crowd for the Jackets since the spring of 2020 at Clemson. Tech delivered in a big way with a 88-78 win.

It was the first meeting in 730 days thanks to scheduling conflicts last season due to COVID and Georgia Tech picked up the first win over Georgia under head coach Josh Pastner behind a 37-point outburst from Mike Devoe. It was a new career-high for Devoe who led his team in both halves controlling the action and helping guide his team to a win for the first time since 2014 over Georgia and the first win in Athens since 2013. Devoe scored 34 points in his previous trip to Stegeman Coliseum in 2019 so clearly, he enjoys playing in that arena. The win snapped a five-game skid against the Bulldogs.

Tech improved to 3-1 on the season while Georgia fell to 2-2 and suffered their first home loss after losing on the road at Cincinnati last week.

“Coach (Pastner) put me in a position to be able to score and it just felt good,” Devoe said. “I also like playing with those Nike balls, they are one of my favorites. I grew up playing with those. I just felt great tonight. My teammates were finding me in open areas, too, as well and I was making the most of it.”

Tech put the game away outscoring Georgia 13-5 in the final three-plus minutes of the game.

Devoe started the game hitting his first four three-point attempts and he said once the first one went down he knew he was going to get hot shooting.

“When I see my first one go in, I feel like the rim just gets bigger,” he said. “So for me, I feel like I'm one of the best shooters in the country. So I just got to consistently just keep shooting, stay consistently working.”

Tech battled through foul trouble to three key players throughout almost the entire game with starting center Rodney Howard, forward Khalid Moore and point guard Deivon Smith all battling foul trouble, but Devoe came up clutch down the stretch along with a yeoman-like effort by Howard playing the entire second half with four fouls.

Pastner was thrilled to have the UGA monkey off his back notching his first win over Tom Crean and the Bulldogs staff.

“Coach (Tom) Crean does an incredible job and he is one of the best coaches in the game. I think they have one of the elite coaches in the game and I think Georgia is really good with a lot of good players and they run good stuff and defend well, so that is a great win for us to beat a really good basketball team like that on the road in our first true road environment in about two years,” Pastner said. “I will tell you also that coaching is overrated and coaches probably get too much credit and too much blame. It is a players’ game it is not about Xs and Os but Jimmies and Joes and tonight our players made plays, big shots and big plays across the board.”

Jordan Usher was overshadowed by Devoe, but he had a very good game as well with 21 points and several key rebounds and buckets late in the game after Howard fouled out. Usher said he thought the Jackets just wanted the game more than the Bulldogs.

“I think really is just being gritty,” Usher said. Coach (Pastner) told us we can't play cooler than them or prettier than them or let them beat us to standing balls or we can lose the game so when it gets into crunch time, it's time to just man up, show them where your chest is at and show them how many hairs you got on your chest and get the ball.”

Howard added eight points and five offensive boards (7 total rebounds) against his former team despite playing almost the entire second half with four fouls.

“It was a little bit of a risk to play Rodney with four fouls but you guys know me. I play guys are two fouls, three fouls or four fouls and Rodney to his credit was able to play really well. He stayed in the game. Tonight he had eight points, seven rebounds and four assists. Only one turnover and he had a big blocked shot. I’m just really proud of his desire and determination and he really stayed sound, he's just gotten better and better and better,” Pastner said of his young big man.

Deivon Smith added seven points including a big three-pointer, but his four assists including two in the pivotal final push and two steals were clutch for the Jackets off the bench.

“Deivon made some big plays in the second half, he had big three and a big steal and a big deflection and he is getting better,” Pastner said.

Georgia was solid offensively led by Aaron Cook with 18 points and Jailyn Ingram with 17 points but those two also had nine turnovers combined in the game and Ingram fouled out late in the game.

Rodney Howard and Khalid Moore each had three fouls midway through the first half of the game. Tech put Georgia in the bonus with 8:47 left in the first half. Tech had six turnovers in that stretch as well. Georgia Tech went on an 8-0 run to close the half capped by a fastbreak three by Mike Devoe to give him 19 points in the half. Tech led 41-36 at the break. Devoe added three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 18 minutes in the first half. Georgia helped the Jackets by missing nine free throws in the first half hitting just six of 15 attempts. The Jackets shot 60-percent from the field and three in the first half as well, but nine turnovers kept Georgia in the game. Deivon Smith joined Moore and Howard in the three first-half foul club, the Jackets had 14 fouls in the first half. Georgia had no scorer break double-digits in the first half, but they had nine different players score.

Rodney Howard picked up his fourth foul less than 90 seconds in the second half. Deivon Smith hit a spin move bucket in the lane and a three to put Tech up 54-47 at the first media timeout of the second half with 14:07 to go. Tech extended that lead to 10, 57-47 with 13:30 to go. Deivon Smith picked up his fourth foul with 10:17 left as Georgia cut Tech’s lead all the way down to 63-60. Georgia cut it to one at 67-66 after a Devoe turnover on a dribble handoff from Howard. Georgia tied it at 69 on an Aaron Cook three. Georgia took the lead 71-69 and the two teams started trading off buckets. Mike Devoe tied it up at 73 and took an offensive foul from Oquendo with 3:51 left. Devoe picked up his fourth foul on the offensive end, but Deivon Smith created some easy buckets for Devoe and Usher to extend the lead. Devoe hit another bucket to make it 79-73 on an 8-0 run leading to a Georgia timeout giving him 34 points. Howard fouled out with 2:11 left and Georgia hit just one of two on the free throws to make it 79-74. Usher took over after Howard fouled out picking up two key rebounds and baskets to put Tech up 83-76 with 33 seconds left.

Georgia Tech returns to the friendly confines of McCamish Pavilion on Monday night as they host Charleston Southern at 7 pm. while Georgia heads to Newark to face Virginia in the Legends Classics Semifinals in the Prudential Center on Monday in a two-game tournament.