PITTSBURGH- Georgia Tech traveled up to Pittsburgh without three scholarship players including sixth man Deivon Smith and Lance Terry who carried the Jackets in recent wins had zero points and fouled out in just 15 minutes. The Panthers put the game away at the free throw line hitting 19 of 20 attempts as well.

For Josh Pastner, it was another tough road loss in ACC play where the Jackets had a chance to put the game away and couldn't. Tech lost at Notre Dame in overtime, against NC State and Wake Forest on the road in games they likely should've won with a break late and then Pitt marked another one against the 3rd place team in the ACC this season.

“We should’ve won at Notre Dame, had the game won at NC State, and had the game won at Wake Forest and we should’ve won tonight. We are snakebitten and those eat at you,” Pastner said.

The Jackets played clean ball, but a slow run in the nine to five-minute mark in the game where Pitt pulled ahead outscoring Tech 14-7 with just one field goal made for the Jackets separated things.

"We had a couple of good looks during that stretch and Lance caught a swing-swing and a good look by Deebo that didn't go in either," Pastner said. "We had a couple of great opportunities and that happens (you miss them sometimes). Pitt also hit a couple of shots from the naked eye and not looking at the film with a hand right there and they are just an old group."

Tech guard Miles Kelly led all scorers with 24 points including six for 13 from the arc despite tweaking his ankle in the first half. It was a new career-high for Kelly in scoring.

Kyle Sturdivant added 16 points and five assists with zero turnovers.

Ja’von Franklin came up just short of a double-double with 15 points and eight rebounds plus two blocks and four assists. Franklin said playing shorthanded was not an excuse for losing.

"We have a next man up mentality and everyone came in expecting to get a victory. We had one man down (Deivon) and Kyle stepped up and played good and Miles played good," Franklin said. "But credit to Pitt they hit some big shots at the end."

Jalon Moore added 10 points and four rebounds off the bench for the Jackets.

Lance Terry had a rough night picking up four first-half fouls and fouling out in just 15 minutes of action with zero points and just three rebounds.

"I don't believe in saving guys

For Pitt, Nelly Cummings added 22 points with seven free throws on seven attempts while Blake Hinson hit the game-clinching three to extend Pitt’s lead to six late, one of his five threes in the game and 19 points.

“Hinson hit big shots, those guys are old and made big shots for Pitt tonight,” Pastner said. “They have a veteran group and I think their starting five is older than the Oklahoma City Thunders’ starting five.”

Pastner wasn't joking. Pitt's five starters led by Cummings at 24 are all 22-plus years of age with Elliott also at 24, Hinson at 23, and both Burton and Federiko at 22-plus. That is an average age of 23 compared to just 21.6 for the Thunder's starting five.

Despite missing several key players and Lance Terry picking up four first-half fouls, Tech trailed by just one point at the break 33-32. Miles Kelly led the Jackets with 10 points in the first half while Ja’von Franklin added nine points, four rebounds, and two blocked shots. Tech shot 42.4 percent from the floor, but only 3-15 from three. Pitt shot just 40.7 percent, but hit 4-11 from three and added seven free throws on eight attempts compared to just one free throw on two attempts for the Jackets. Pitt had five turnovers to Tech’s zero in the first half. Blake Hinson led all scorers in the first half with 11 points.

Freds Pauls Bagatskis played just seven seconds late in the game off the bench as the second sub in the game for the Jackets after Moore.

Smith missed his third straight game with an ankle sprain. Pastner is hopeful for him to return against Louisville. Tristan Maxwell, Cyril Martynov, and Jermontae Hill did not make the trip to Pittsburgh either due to illness per Pastner.

“Deivon was out with his ankle and he wasn’t cleared to play, because of our rigorous curriculum we tend to let them stay home and get better. A couple of guys were sick and a couple were also sick on Saturday and we were being cautious with it and we are trying to be extra careful,” Pastner said of the missing players besides Smith.

Tech returns to action against Louisville on Saturday in the 2022-23 home finale for the Jackets before a pair of Northeastern road trips to Syracuse and Boston College next week.

Things started off slow on offense with Pitt taking a 6-5 lead at the first media timeout without hitting a shot of any range, just a layup, a dunk and a pair of free throws. Deebo Coleman added a three and Miles Kelly left the game early with a leg injury. Lance Terry picked up his third foul with 12:03 left in the half. Terry picked up foul four with 7:28 left in the game. Tech went on a 7-0 run to take the lead briefly before Pitt answered tying the game at 27 at the final media timeout with 3:35 left. Franklin was big in the final 33 seconds of the half with a dunk and then a block on the final play of the half to cut Pitt’s lead to one, 33-32 at the break.

Miles Kelly opened the second half with a pair of threes to tie the game at 38 and Pitt retook the lead 41-40 on a three by Greg Elliott and Capel burned a timeout with 17:31 left in the half. Tech lead 42-41 at the first media timeout of the half. Miles Kelly hit his third three of the half and Franklin added a layup to make it 49-45 Georgia Tech at the second media timeout with 11:57 left in the game. Pitt held Tech without a field goal for nearly four minutes prompting a Tech timeout as the Panthers set up a three-point lead 55-52 thanks to some poor shot selection by the Jackets. Federiko Federiko picked up his third foul with 8:15 left and Franklin cut the Pitt lead to one with a pair of free throws 55-54. Pitt hit seven of their next eight shots to extend the lead to six, 65-59 with 3:32 left outscoring Tech 14-7 during a five minute stretch. Federiko Federiko picked up his fourth foul with 3:18 left. Sturdivant hit a three after the media timeout to make it 65-62 Pitt with under three minutes to play. After Cummings added a pair of free throws, Hinson hit a late shot clock three to make it 70-62 with under 1:45 left. Federiko Federiko fouled out and Sturdivant hit a layup to make it 70-65 with 50.4 left in the game. Sturdivant stole an inbound pass but couldn’t handle it and turned the ball over. Cummings hit a pair of free throws on the other side to make it 72-65 with 32.7 left. Cummings tacked on two more after Sturdivant missed a layup, but Sturdivant hit a three on the other end to make it 74-68 with 15.8 left. Pitt tacked on two more free throws to close the game out.