Triple trouble. James Banks and Georgia Tech edge NC State. Again.
James Banks and Georgia Tech got the best of N.C. State — again — in the final minute.
In Saturday’s 64-58 home win over the Wolfpack, the Georgia Tech big man had some help.
Junior guard Jose Alvarado had 26 points and a school-record eight steals to push Georgia Tech (9-11, 4-6 ACC) to its first season sweep of N.C. State (14-6, 5-4) since 1995-96 and a fourth straight win over the Wolfpack.
Senior guard Markell Johnson led the Wolfpack with 21 points but foul trouble and fatigue caught up with N.C. State by the second half.
For the third time in three meetings Banks scored the game-deciding points in a close call with N.C. State.
The senior forward’s tip-in with 23.2 seconds left broke a 58-58 tie. Banks only scored six points but his last basket, after an Alvarado miss, was key.
“We needed that one,” junior guard Devon Daniels said of the rebound that led to Banks’ basket. “That was a costly error right there.”
Banks, who averages 10.4 points per game, had 20 in the season-opening win over the Wolfpack in Raleigh with a pair of free throws with 2.1 seconds left in overtime proving to be the difference. He had 19 points and a dunk at the buzzer in last year’s 63-61 win in Raleigh.
N.C. State, even without injured forward Manny Bates who missed his second straight game with a concussion, bottled up Banks for most of the game.
It was Alvarado who did the most damage. N.C. State had a chance to take the lead after Banks’ tip-in but Alvarado had two steals in the final 8 seconds. His eight steals are a single-game record by an N.C. State opponent.
“I just thought he was aggressive,” N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts said. “When you look at Jose, he did everything for his team. That was an impressive night for him.”
Coming off of three straight ACC wins, including the first win at Virginia since 2005, N.C. State was sluggish out of the gate.
The Jackets led by as many as 11 points in the first half before Johnson got in gear and dragged the rest of the offense with him.
A 10-0 run, the first eight points by Johnson, gave the Wolfpack a 32-28 lead near the end of the first half.
“I just figured my teammates needed scoring,” Johnson said. “It was slow getting off. I just did whatever I could at the beginning of the game and it carried over in the second half.”
N.C. State led by 55-50 with 6 minutes left before the Jackets were able to surge ahead for good.
“We just couldn’t get stops at the end of the game when we needed to,” Johnson said.
And one
Junior guard Braxton Beverly had one of his better games with 11 points and five rebounds in 30 minutes.
Lane violation
Senior guard C.J. Bryce had been so important to N.C. State’s success during a three-game winning streak. He missed four games with a concussion and N.C. State really missed his scoring and leadership.
Bryce was healthy and there on Saturday but he got in early foul trouble and then never found a groove. He was scoreless in 26 minutes and finished 0 for 4 from the field.
ICYMI
Bates and forward Pat Andree (ankle) missed their second straight game. Both traveled with the team, which was a sign of progress for Bates, who was in the concussion protocol, in particular.
Keatts said that Bates was able to work out with the team on Saturday but he hasn’t been through any contact drills yet.
“We’re hopeful for Monday but we don’t know,” Keatts said. “He was able to work out with our team this morning. He hasn’t had any contact. Hopefully when we get back in the gym (Sunday), we can put him through some contact stuff.”
Making sense of the numbers
6: Guard Jordan Usher, a transfer from USC, didn’t play in the season-opening win over N.C. State but he had six assists to go with eight points and seven rebounds. The Jackets were without their top scorer, Michael Devoe, who missed the game with a foot injury. Devoe had 22 points in the season-opener.
0-4: Keatts’ record against Georgia Tech. Half of the Jackets’ ACC wins are against the Wolfpack this season.
This story was originally published January 25, 2020 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Triple trouble. James Banks and Georgia Tech edge NC State. Again.."
