Published Dec 3, 2024
Tech starts strong but falters in 76-61 loss at #21 Oklahoma
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Kelly Quinlan  •  JacketsOnline
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NORMAN, OK- Georgia Tech put a scare into #21 Oklahoma on Tuesday night in the first meeting between the teams since 1995 and just the fifth overall game between the two programs. The Jackets fell 76-61 despite playing without two senior starters, Javian McCollum and Kowacie Reeves.

Oklahoma improved to 8-0 on the season while Damon Stoudamire's second-year Jackets fell to 4-4 with four losses to probable NCAA Tournament teams.

"I'll never make excuses but we were down a couple of bodies and it is what it is," Stoudamire said. "Our team fought hard and fought until the end and I'm proud of them for that. Oklahoma is a good team with really good guards who make tough shots. I give them credit."

Tech forward Baye Ndongo was also a non-factor in the game due to foul trouble exiting the game midway through the second half after playing just 14 minutes with only four points and four rebounds. With his struggles, the Jackets got four points from three of their top five scorers.

"I'm always careful with my words. I talked to Baye. My thing is this, at some point we will get to that point and we weren't there today, but he knows he has to be better. We don't need to get into it, but he needs to be better for us to be a good team," Stoudamire said of his sophomore Ndongo."

Freshman guard Jaeden Mustaf led the Jackets with 16 points on 5-11 shooting in 29 minutes. Lance Terry added 14 points but was 5-14 shooting and was just 2-7 in the second half shooting.

Reserve forward Duncan Powell was the only other Jacket in double figures with 11 points and nine rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench.

The Jackets led at the break 34-30 but an 11-minute field goal free stretch from the end of the first half into the second half doomed the Jackets as they lost their lead and struggled. Tech was just 1-9 from three in the second half and shot 8-22 in the second half after a strong first half shooting over 45 percent in the game.

"I thought we did a good job of containing Oklahoma in the first half, but I thought our defense for the most part in that half was elite," Stoudamire said. "In the second half the game got away from us a little bit. We made a couple of turnovers and they got out and hit a couple of things."

Tech also ended the game with a 5:24 scoreless stretch.

Former Yellow Jacket Jalon Moore added 15 points and 11 rebounds against his former team.

“He really wanted to play well and more importantly he wanted to win,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said of Moore. "We were texting when the ACC/SEC Challenge bracket got announced."

Jeremiah Fears led all scorers with 18 points mostly through free throws going 10-11 from the line.

Tech did outscore the Sooners in the paint, but Oklahoma doubled up the Jackets on made threes. Oklahoma also protected the ball with only seven turnovers in the game. Tech had 11 turnovers that turned into 13 Sooner points. Tech scored 10 points on those seven turnovers.

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Georgia Tech jumped out early to an 11-5 lead at the first media timeout behind 4-6 shooting and some solid defense. Porter Moser called a timeout after Lance Terry extended the lead to nine on a runner with 13:56 left in the half and the Jackets up 15-6. The Sooners went over six minutes without a field goal before a three by Kobe Elvis. Elvis cut the lead to three on back-to-back threes with 5:06 left 28-25, but Jaeden Mustaf and Terry hit back-to-back threes to push it back to nine 34-25. Georgia Tech did not score for the final 4:05 of the half, but it didn’t matter as the defense held and Tech took a 34-30 lead into the locker room.

Tech continued to the cold shooting in the second half ceding the lead with an 0-8 start to the half and digging a six-point hole 45-37 with just a pair of free throws from Duncan Powell and a free throw from Mustaf as the lone offense. Powell broke the stretch with a dunk with 12:22 left in the half after over 11 minutes without a basket for the Jackets. The Sooners responded to four straight Tech buckets with a 6-0 run to go up 57-45 with 8:19 left in the game. Tech used a 6-0 run in just 27 seconds to pull back within two baskets 57-51. The Sooners pushed the lead back out to nine several times.

INJURY UPDATES

Kowacie Reeves missed his second straight game with an undisclosed foot injury while Javian McCollum missed his third game in a row after a concussion in the Cincinnati game. Stoudamire told the media that McCollum could be out one more week in concussion protocols.

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