Georgia Tech take the Battle of the Techs 77-70 in an upset win over VT

ATLANTA- It wasn’t pretty, but Georgia Tech pulled off a 77-70 upset win over Virginia Tech on Wednesday night in McCamish Pavilion behind a career-high 21 points from guard Deebo Coleman including 14 in the first half. The Jackets struggled to hit free throws late in the game making the game more exciting than it needed to be.

The Jackets missed seven of 14 free throws in the final 2:27 of the game allowing Virginia Tech to hang around. The Jackets have won two in a row at home in ACC play and had three other close losses in the last five games on the road against Louisville, NC State, and Wake Forest.

“Good win for the Jackets. That was not easy, especially with our free throws, but it was a really good win overall,” Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner said. “Unfortunately we have gotten better and we are improving, but we are a month behind, usually in January and we are doing it in February. That was a high-level character win and I think coach Young is one of the best coaches in all of college basketball, to win, that is a character win. We didn’t have Deivon (Smith) today and we played six guys plus Jordan Meka for six and a half minutes.”

Big man Ja’von Franklin posted a double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks, three steals, and three assists for the Jackets.

The Jackets shot well outside hitting on 11 of 22 attempts from the three-point line and shot 44.8 percent overall in the game.

Coleman said his teammates were fired up after feeling like the Wake Forest game was a win taken away from them.

“We were frustrated after the Wake Forest game, but we knew this would be a character game and we wanted to flush it and focus on winning this game,” Coleman said of his hot start.

Guard Miles Kelly added 15 points on 6-11 shooting and 3-6 from the arc as well as six rebounds and two steals for the Jackets.

Point guard Kyle Sturdivant added 10 points in 21 minutes and a key steal late as well as several strips of Virginia Tech big men late as one of the 10 turnovers Georgia Tech forced.

“Miles Kelly had the third straight game signing the bubble, his third straight game with six defensive boards, and Deebo had some big defensive rebounds. Kyle hit a huge three in the corner. I challenged Jalon at shootaround to bring the energy with Deivon out. I thought Ja’von was outstanding five blocks and a double-double and Jordan Meka gave us some good rebounds.”

The Jackets stifled Virginia Tech’s high-octane offense holding the Hokies to 6-23 shooting from outside.

“We sized downed and Ja’von has done some great things for us, fifth double-double of the year, he has just been at a high level. We’ve had back-to-back games with over 100-rating of offensive efficiency, and this could be our third,” Pastner said.

It was the first time in nine games that Georgia Tech's opponent did not have over a 100 mark in offensive efficiency as well.

Deebo Coleman and Miles Kelly led a strong half of action for the Jackets sparked by an 8-15 performance from three to take a 10-point lead into the break 41-31 over Virginia Tech. The Jackets led by as much as 12 in the half. Coleman scored 14 points while Kelly added 11 in the half. The Hokies shot just 42.9% from the field and attempted zero free throws in the first half compared to eight for the Jackets. The Hokies did hold a 24-10 edge in the paint led by big men Grant Basile and Justyn Mutts who combined for 24 of the Hokies' 31 points in the first half.

In the second half, the Jackets opened up a 16-point lead as they held Virginia Tech without a field goal for six minutes of action. Hokies head coach Mike Young said that his team may have panicked during that stretch that led to the Jackets controlling most of the game.

“We looked frantic and like we were going to claw all the way back and I’ve got a smart and mature team and we weren’t that in stretches,” Young said. “They make eight (threes) in the first half and 11 in the game and we’ve been good in transition defense and we were not great there because they’ve got to score in transition. You’ve got to get people to shoot from the arc and that is disappointing."

Mutts came one assist shy of a triple-double with 17 points,11 rebounds, and nine assists for the Hokies in 38 minutes of action.

Grant Basile led the Hokies with 21 points, but only scored seven points after the 9:00 minute mark of the first half. Young said his team struggled against the undersized Jackets and he gave a lot of credit to Lance Terry in particular for his work defensively.

“I watched the Wake Forest game on Saturday, zero who I really like who is really tough and he is their four-man at times and Pastner makes that with his zone. You have to make shots on the perimeter and they do a really nice job of mixing that thing up with a tandem zone and a 1-3-1,” Young said.

Deivon Smith missed his second game of the season with an ankle injury. He missed the road game at Louisville with an ankle injury as well. Tech improved to 3-7 without Smith in the last two seasons. Pastner said that Smith did not break his ankle, but the injury has his status for Saturday's game against Florida Tech is unknown. Center Rodney Howard did not play due to a coach's decision.

“We talk about character with our guys, it is not easy when you have losses and you are trying to keep everyone together and there can be negativity, but to keep guys together and to keep performing in practice and games shows what they are made of inside and I’m so proud of these young men. We had a chance to win on Saturday and we found a way to win today, every ACC win is special. Our guys have stayed together, and our energy has been great. I thought the crowd gave us a lift and they were into it. I’m appreciative of Yellow Jackets Nation,” Pastner said.

The Jackets take the court again on Saturday at 2 pm against Florida Tech. The Jackets improved to 2-2 on the season with the starting five of Franklin, Coleman, Kelly, Terry and Sturdivant.

“I think we are grateful our hard work is paying off and I think our hard work is starting to pay off on the court,” Sturdivant said.

Tech started the game strong from the outside hitting three of five from the arc leading much of the first segment until the first TV timeout which ended up tied at 11. Jordan Meka was the first sub for the Jackets. Tech held a three-point lead at the second media timeout 16-13 with under 12 to play. Tech continued to shoot well hitting on four of five shots to extend the lead to 23-19 at the third media timeout with 7:42 thanks to a Deebo Coleman three. Tech extended the lead to 31-23 at the next media timeout with 3:37 left despite Jalon Moore missing on half of his six free throw attempts. Tech extended the lead to as much as 12 with 20 seconds left in the half. GT took a 10-point lead into the half 41-31.

Deebo Coleman continued his hot first half into the second half with a step-back three as the Jackets maintained a 10-point lead 46-36 after a slow start for both teams in the second half at the first media timeout with 16:00 left. The Jackets held Virginia Tech scoreless for nearly seven minutes extending the lead to 52-36 before the Hokies finally scored to make it 52-38 with 12:40 left in the game. The Hokies went on a 7-0 run sparked by a turnover out of the timeout by the Jackets to cut it to nine, 52-43 at the second media timeout with 11:20 left. The Hokies went on a 12-2 run overall to cut it to five, 54-49 with under 10 minutes to go. Lance Terry snapped the run with a corner three to make it 57-49. Lance Terry drew an offensive foul with 3:17 left from Lynn Kidd that was a flagrant one foul and he hit both free throws to make it 66-56. Kyle Sturdivant came up with a big steal after Terry missed one of two free throws and Mutts fouled him on a breakaway giving Georgia Tech a pair of free throws and the ball. Sturdivant hit one of two to make it 68-59. Terry hit a circus layup to make it 70-59, and Cattoor answered with a deep three with 1:41 left. After a Tech turnover, Mutts dropped a potential dunk to give Georgia Tech the ball again. From there on it became a free-throw contest for the Jackets and they hit enough to put the game away.