Irish edge Jackets in Wednesday night thriller
ATLANTA- Georgia Tech and Notre Dame tend to have interesting games especially in McCamish Pavilion and Wednesday night's game was no different. This time it was the Irish who came out on top 78-74 in a wild finish. Prentiss Hubb went for 25 points while Michael Devoe countered with 22 points for the Jackets.
“It seems like we’re in these all the time. I’m proud of our group because we made some fearless plays to get out of here with a win tonight. Just a heck of a game. Obviously, [Prentiss] Hubb and [T.J.] Gibbs were fearless for us tonight. Hubb was fabulous but he’s trending this way. [In the] Carrier Dome over a week ago, I think he’s trending [towards] being one of the better guards in the league,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said after the game.
The Jackets took over in the second half, the crowd got into it with chants of airball for Prentiss Hubbs and TJ Gibbs are they both miss fired on threes, but those two fought back. Tech held a one-point lead with under four minutes to go and things went sharply sideways for the Jackets. From four minutes to 26 seconds left in the game, the Jackets made one field goal and hit five free throws while Hubb and TJ Gibbs combined for nine points including a clutch three by Gibbs to make it 70-64 following a terrible three-point attempt by Moses Wright. The Jackets had switched from man defense to their zone for one of the few times all evening before Gibbs' shot.
“They went zone. They had been living in that zone for the last two years, but they’re more of a man-to-man team," Brey said. "They went zone on that possession, and I thought we were really poised. We are a very good passing team and at some point, your seniors just have to go ‘I’ve got to take this one.’ That’s a big-time shot right there. I like how poised we were because they threw the zone at us that time. Gibbs is a fearless guy. He was exhausted. Obviously it’s hot here, but it was hot in that building. I think all of our guys were really winded. He’s had a great year for us.”
Pastner who has patterned his program on Notre Dame and Virginia was impressed with what the Irish did to win the game and disappointed with how his team executed in the clutch situations late in the game.
“First off, I want to give a lot of credit to Notre Dame. They hit some tough shots. I’ve said this before: I think Coach Brey is one of the best coaches in all of college basketball. The amount of wins he’s had, he’s one of the very best coaches in the entire game. They’re a good team, Notre Dame. The reality is, they’ve lost some games in the conference that they probably should have won. They’ve had late leads against Louisville, late leads against Boston College, NC State. So, I knew this was a good team. You couldn’t tell based on their conference record, I knew they were better than that. They hit some tough shots,” Pastner said after the game. “I thought both teams played well offensively in the second half and it just came down to whoever was going to hit tougher shots towards the end and they hit some tough shots. The one time we went zone they hit a three on us. But look, we shot 68 percent from the field in the second half and they shot 53 [percent] in the second half. The difference was the offensive rebounding. They had five more offensive boards and five less turnovers. That created seven more shots for them and that’s the game right there. Nothing else matters, that’s the basketball game.”
Tech had 13 turnovers and 15 assists while Notre Dame had just eight turnovers. Point guards Jose Alvarado and Bubba Parham combined for six of those 13 turnovers with several coming on entry passes.
“We can’t have Bubba [Parham] and Jose [Alvarado] combine for six turnovers. Now Jose had nine assists, but he and Bubba Parham, you can’t have six turnovers at this level [as guards] and it’s all about guard play. And if those guys have six turnovers between those two, that makes it really hard. Bubba had those two turnovers [in] the first half, he jumped in the air, the other one he had the post entry pass. Jose had one or two in the first half but he had a crucial one there in the second half, but that happens. [Jose] had a great look at a three, it was at the top of the key, that he usually makes. I thought Michael Devoe played well offensively, but the reason he played well offensively was because he played well defensively the last 30 minutes of the game. He did a good job defensively, he also had nine rebounds, and that translated into him being better offensively.
Georgia Tech trailed 29-27 at the half to the Irish with both teams shooting under 37-percent and the Jackets hitting just 2 of their 8 three-point attempts. Dane Goodwin led all scorers with 10-points off the bench while Michael Devoe had eight points in the first half.
The Jackets face Virginia on Saturday night at McCamish Pavilion who has been struggling with three-straight losses. The defending champs have been very successful against Tech and everyone else in the league over the last several seasons.