Tech fall to Louisville in a wild ACC Tournament comeback bid 84-74
BROOKLYN, NY- Georgia Tech took a 7-0 lead in the game and were outscored 45-21 by Louisville after that and the second half wasn’t much better until a late 19-0 run pulled the Jackets within five late. The Cardinals fought back and picked up an 84-74 win to end a tough 2021-22 season for the Jackets in the Barclays Center on Tuesday night. Freshman Tech guard Miles Kelly had a big night for the Jackets with 19 points including several clutch buckets in the big run.
Head coach Josh Pastner was proud of his team's comeback and how they fought throughout the season even when trailing in games in the second half.
"It has been a tough season," Pastner said. "There have been highs and lows, our team has gotten better, but we don't have the wins to show for it. One thing about our team is no matter what the situation is, these guys have always fought and competed. We never laid down and we had a shot to win the game with a shot here or there late. That is a credit to these young men. I'm proud of our team and we have a great young nucleus moving forward."
Pastner benched three of his regular starters for a minor team rules violation to begin the game. Mike Devoe, Khalid Moore and Jordan Usher each sat on the bench until the first media timeout and Pastner started with a glimpse into the future with Rodney Howard, Jalon Moore, Miles Kelly, Deebo Coleman and Kyle Sturdivant.
"It was a very minor internal matter," Pastner said of the benching to start the game. "We have our rules and whether we are playing in the National Championship Game or the first exhibition game, it is all the same. These are phenomenal young men and it was less than a minor thing, but we have our standards."
When Devoe, Usher and Khalid Moore entered the game, the Cardinals went on a 17-4 run to take control of the game and they never looked back with a 45-28 halftime lead marking the most points scored in a half since the Navy game for the Cardinals back in November.
Tech did not have a steal or shoot a free throw in the first half, but they ended the game with 15 attempts at the line and seven steals mounting a furious comebacker after trailing by 27 in the second half cutting the lead to five points.
Louisville coach Mike Pegues said that Tech came out with a lot of energy and finished the game with a lot of energy but they won the middle segment.
"Our guys did an incredible job staying with it in the first half and we get up 27 and look like we are going to run away with it, but Georgia Tech's energy superseded ours on the defensive end and they got aggressive and gave up some stuff in transition and we have folded against adversity all year, but tonight we fought back and held on," Pegues said.
The Jackets' defense looked lost in the first half, but Pastner said they made a couple of changes to their zone and they began to slow down the Cardinals and then they completely shut them down for nearly six minutes to mount the comeback.
"Our defense wasn't as effective as it needed to be in the first half. We made some adjustments at halftime and the adjustments we made, we switched things just the way we covered in the zone. Unfortunately, we didn't do the first half. We made the adjustment at halftime and it worked itself out in the second half."
Devoe who scored 15 points after a slow first half said the comeback also was part of the fight of the team knowing the situation and how desperate things were to continue playing.
"We were down 27 and we wanted to fight," Devoe said. "We knew this might be our last game and we were like we have to fight back. I'm really excited about the young guys and the future here. It has been a great four years here and I will graduate and be able to do big things from here. I've created a brotherhood here that will last a lifetime."
Jordan Usher and Miles Kelly keyed the Jackets come back as Usher ended his Tech career with a 19-point and nine assist outing with just one turnover and two steals. Kelly scored 19 points including 10 points during the key run when the Jackets cut it five.
Jarrod West answered Tech’s run with two clutch threes as part of his 20-point outing to led the Cardinals. West and fellow guard Noah Locke managed to answer the Jackets each time they were close to completing the comeback. West hit a three after Deebo Coleman’s free throw made it a five-point game and he hit another after a pair of Devoe free throws to extend the lead to nine with just under two minutes left.
Pastner said after the loss his boss Todd Stansbury addressed the team in the locker room and gave the team some encouraging words after the failed comeback bid.
"Mr. Stansbury, our athletic director gave just an incredible talk to the team, both with the seniors and with the underclassmen. I just thought his message was just outstanding, I won't get into the corny details on what the message was, but it's an amazing message. It really summed things up just and it was a really powerful message."
Tech finishes the season with a 12-20 record a year after winning the ACC Tournament and after two top 5 finishes in the ACC.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Kyle Sturdivant scored the first seven points of the game to put Georgia Tech up 7-0 early in the game and the Jackets led 9-3 at the first media timeout with 15:55 remaining. Usher and Devoe checked in shortly after the media timeout. The Cardinals went on an 8-0 run to take an 11-9 lead before the Jackets responded. Louisville went on a 6-0 run with hot shooting to extend the lead to seven, 20-13 at the next media timeout with 10:26 remaining in the half. The Cards extended their run to 19-4 to take a 10-point lead at the U-8 timeout with 7:59 left in the half. Jordan Usher hit a pair of threes to keep the Jackets in the game 34-23 at the U-4 media timeout with 3:57 left. Louisville hit a trio of threes to take a 45-28 lead late in the half and that was the score at halftime. Noah Locke led all scorers with 11 points including three three-point baskets as the Cardinals also outshot Tech 10 to 0 from the free-throw line in the first half. Tech had no blocks or steals in the first half and Louisville only had one turnover. Mike Devoe was 1-7 shooting with three missed layups while Jordan Usher and Kyle Sturdivant kept the Jackets alive with 19 combined points on 8-12 shooting.
Tech fell behind by 20 early in the second half and the Cards maintained their lead while getting Howard into foul trouble. The Jackets stormed back in the game on a 17-0 run to cut it to 67-57 with 6:47 left in the game at the U-8 timeout. The Jackets got the lead to eight several times and got Mason Faulkner to foul out with 4:26 left in the game. Miles Kelly on a hard cut to the hoop hit a layup to cut the lead to six with 3:42 left. Pegues called a timeout on the other end with 3:30 left and the Cardinals up 73-67. Tech pulled within five on a Deebo Coleman free throw, but West hit a three with 2:32 left to put the Cardinals back up eight. Devoe hit a pair of free throws to make it six, but West hit another three and Usher missed the answer and Samuel Williamson hit a jumper to put the Cards up 81-70. Usher hit a pair of free throws to make it a nine-point game 81-72.