BOSTON- Georgia Tech needed a win badly after several close losses in ACC play and the road and a hot Tristan Maxwell did the trick for the Jackets. Maxwell dropped 22 points in 26 minutes off the bench for the Jackets including seven threes. Tech shot 44-percent from the arc after struggling in ACC play and scored 80+ points for the first time since the Charleston Southern game in late November.
Tech head coach Josh Pastner opted to go with a small-ball lineup in the game without a true big man a move inspired by a close home loss to Notre Dame last week.
“I made the decision on Saturday after the Notre Dame game, we are dead last in our four ACC games in scoring and offensive efficiency and it is sort of like the change we made last year when we went smaller, obviously Moses is a shot-blocker and it is different. It worked out tonight and we are on the board,” Pastner said. “I was sitting in my car for two hours after the game and I thought we had to get out of the hole.”
Tech shot 51-percent and had 17 assists in the game after several low assists to made field goal totals over the last month of the season, one of his key metrics.
“I thought going small would allow the offense to be better and this was our best offense all year. We got great looks all night long,” Pastner said. “I knew we would give somethings up with Post inside 24 points and nine rebounds, but we had to be better offensively and we have to score enough to win. We need more burst, B-U-R-S-T. We held them to 40-percent from the field and 20-percent from the three in the second half and they had some second-chance points, but we scored better.”
Mike Devoe was held to 13 points, but he had nine rebounds and four assists and four blocks while only shooting the ball ten times.
Maxwell said he has been inspired watching how hard Devoe has to work to get baskets during the season and he wanted to take some pressure off the Jackets' leading scorer.
“I feel really confident I can be that guy and I will take pressure off of Mike Devoe as guys play him so tight and face guard him and it got me going tonight,” Maxwell said.
After playing in one game last year and just a couple of games this past season, Maxwell was thrilled with his performance against Boston College after he overcame multiple obstacles this season including dental surgery issues and covid.
“At times it was difficult and I had to just buy in to the system. It has been a dream to play college basketball and it hasn’t sunk in yet, but it is crazy. It was crazy, I’m shocked for real,” Maxwell said of his performance on Wednesday night.
Maxwell was nearly a scratch from the lineup after a hand injury during Tuesday in practice.
“Tristan Maxwell, he hurt himself in shoot-around yesterday and at 5:30 today he said I’m not sure if I can go, he hurt his hand and he went through warm-ups here and thank the Basketball Gods he got a little extra energy and the adrenaline got him going,” Pastner said. “We are going to the gas station.”
Jordan Usher had 14 points and five rebounds and four assists in the post before fouling out late in the second half playing the post position in the game along with Khalid Moore. He was equally thrilled for Maxwell after seeing how much work the young guard has put in.
“Tristan, I’m extremely happy for us, more than the stat sheet for us, he is a guy who hasn’t played in a lot of games and this is a great confidence booster for him and I’m super happy for him. He is a guy that I love,” he said. “It takes time for the young guys and it is hard to understand, young guys who came in what it immediately and seeing them develop as young people."
Usher had his hands full dealing with all seven feet of Quinten Post who had 24 points and six offensive rebounds in the game. He said that it was tough work for him and Moore to try to guard the big man. The rest of BC's team shot 39.5-percent from the field in the game when you take out Post's 10-for-14 performance.
“It was hard for us especially when they got the back to the basket and got inside and I got a couple of fouls from that out of frustration and I think I had a couple of bad foul calls on some clean steals,” Usher said. “The zone doesn’t have to look perfect but we were active on defense and made some plays.”
Deebo Coleman added 11 points including three-for-six shooting from three for Tech.
Tech improved to 7-8 on the season and picked up the first ACC win of 2021-22 while Boston College fell to 6-8 on the year.
“I’m really proud of our guys and Boston College is a well-coached team and they played hard and I knew it would be a battle. The terminology we used Kintsugi it is a vase, if you break the vase you have to put the pieces back together and the vase breaks and you have to pick the pieces up. We were broken with four ACC losses and had lost seven of eight, putting it back together is better than the actual vase. That was our theme tonight. During our four ACC games, we’ve had great looks and failed to score, but you have to put the ball in the basket. My staff has done a great job of keeping the guys together and they kept us hanging on to get the win."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mike Devoe gave Tech the first lead of the game 5-3 on a blocked three-point shot that turned into a fastbreak bucket and foul on the other end for the Jackets. Tech trailed 11-10 at the next media break with 11:46 to go in the first half. Tech opened up a decent lead with a 10-0 run late in the first half to go up 29-23. Tech kept the lead going on four Tristan Maxwell first-half threes before BC climbed back into the game with eight-straight points to retake the lead 35-34. Deebo Coleman answered on the other end to retake the lead for Tech. Brevin Galloway hit his third straight three of the half to make it 38-36 BC at the half. The eagles shot 53-percent for the half while Tech shot 48-percent but had nine turnovers compared to six for the Eagles.
Deebo Coleman hit a pair of threes early in the second half to help Tech take a 52-42 lead with 15:10 to go as part of a 10-0 run. Tech extended the lead to 12 at the first media timeout with 14:22 to go 54-42. Maxwell hit his fifth three of the game to make it a 10-point game again before Usher picked up his fourth foul on the other end on a plus-one bucket with 9:53 to go and GT up 65-58. The Eagles went on a 7-0 run to get the game down three, before a Maxwell free throw with 7:56 to go. Usher fouled out with 5:43 on a loose ball foul that led to a pair of BC free throws to make it a one-point game 66-65. Zackery hit a three to give BC the lead 68-66 with under five minutes to go. At the final media timeout, BC led 72-68 after back-to-back putbacks by Quinten Post. Maxwell hit his sixth three of the game to give Tech a 73-72 lead with 2:36 to go. After two misses by Devoe and offensive rebounds on his own misses, Maxwell hit his seventh three of the game with 1:17 left to give Tech a 76-72 lead. Post scored but missed a free throw on the other end to make it 76-74. Smith scored on the other end for Tech to make it 78-74 and the Eagles turned the ball over with 32.9 left. Devoe hit a pair of free throws with 20.2 left to make it 80-74. Langford hit a putback for the Eagles with 10 seconds left to make it 80-76. Smith hit a free throw to make it 81-76 and that was the final score.
UP NEXT
Tech heads back on the road on Saturday with a trip to Chapel Hill to face UNC for the second time this year for an 8 pm tip while Boston College heads to Clemson for a 6:30 tip on Saturday.
