Tech's offense falters as the Jackets drop ACC road opener to FSU 82-71

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.- Georgia Tech coming off a nine-day break playing a scuffling Florida State squad seemed primed for an ACC road win, but the Noles had other plans downing the cold-shooting Jackets 82-71.

Poor shooting was a killer as the Jackets hit 7-26 from three and missed 12 free throws hitting just 14 of 26 in the loss.

The Jackets shot just 26.7 percent in the first half digging an 11-point hole in the first half. The Jackets were 1-14 from three while Florida State shot 40.6 percent and 4-10 from three to take an early lead with balanced scoring.

Tech head coach Damon Stoudamire was frustrated by his team's first-half effort.

"I didn't think we moved the ball. We weren't particularly sharp and we worked on a whole lot of things. We knew they were going to switch and take things away and we just didn't handle it well," Stoudamire said. "They put us in a hole. Sometimes people say your defense can put you in a hole and I think tonight our offense put us in a hole. We just didn't do a good job of handling pressure."

Stoudamire was disappointed with how his team played on both ends of the court overall.

"Our competitive spirit wasn't there tonight," he said. "I just thought the second half was different because we played harder. I'd like to believe my team aren't frontrunners. I don't want to get down 13-15 and then guys start playing hard. That is losing basketball and that is not what I am trying to build here. For me, that was the biggest disappointment. It was a tale of two halves and yes we lost the game, but I was disappointed collectively."

The Jackets shot 58.6 percent in the second half and 6-12 from three, but they missed 10 free throws in the second half on 22 shots.

Struggling junior guard Miles Kelly led all scorers with 20 points on 7-15 shooting and six rebounds.

Transfer guard Kowacie Reeves led Tech’s comeback bid that fell short with 18 points, six rebounds and two assists with 15 of his points coming in the second half and most late in the game. Reeves echoed Stoudamire's concerns with the sluggish first half.

"In the first half I felt like we were searching out there," Reeves said. "I think we have a great group of guys and we want to compete, but sometimes when the ball goes up it is not there. I feel like personally, I could've been better with leadership as far as rallying the guys. We have a lot of inexperienced guys who are talented and a lot of freshmen playing and I feel like it is our job as older guys who have been in college to help them find their competitive nature and spirit during the game."

Freshman Baye Ndongo fell just short of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. He was held to just three offensive rebounds a point of focus for Leonard Hamilton’s Florida State squad going into the game. Tech had just nine offensive rebounds overall and eight second-chance points.

Chandler Jackson led Florida State with 14 points and three other Noles reached double figures. The Noles shot 51.7 percent for the game and 7-17 (41.2 percent) from three in the win and also hit their free throws going 13-17 from the line.

Tech fell to 8-5 on the season and 1-1 in ACC play while Florida State picked up win seven on the season and their first ACC win. It was the sixth straight loss at Florida State for the Jackets going back to the 2015-16 season when the Jackets won 86-80 in Brian Gregory’s final season as coach.

Stoudamire opted to roll with a different starting lineup of Ndongo, Ibrahima Sacko, Reeves, Kelly and Nait George.

The two teams combined for three for 12 shooting to open the game as Tech trailed 6-3 at the first media timeout with 15:45 left. FSU went on a 10-0 run to take a 13-3 lead before Claude hit a layup. By the third media timeout, FSU led 17-7 thanks to almost five scoreless minutes by the Jackets and five straight missed shots. The Noles led 26-17 at the third media timeout with 3:16 left in the half. Tech ended up down 30-19 after a last-second tip-in by Cameron Cohren before the buzzer.

Tech opened the second half down by as much as 17 39-22 before clawing back into the game 44-31 with 13:46 left. Tech still trailed by double-digits at the third media timeout with 7:50 left 57-45 behind the sluggish three-point shooting and defensive miscues. Reeves hit back-to-back baskets to cut the FSU lead to single digits with 4:17 left 66-57. Tech cut the lead to eight, but Florida State kept attacking the Jackets and some bad offensive choices, and a corner three by Darrin Green Jr. with 1:56 left put the Noles squarely in control.

Tech returns home for the first time in nearly a month to host Boston College at 4 pm in McCamish Pavilion.