Georgia Tech holds off Tennessee
ATLANTA -- Senior Nick Jacobs matched his career high with 23 points and led Georgia Tech to a 69-67 win over Tennessee on Monday night at McCamish Pavilion.
The Yellow Jackets had several opportunities to put the game but had to sweat out a shot in the final second. Tennessee inbounded the ball with six seconds remaining, worked it up the court and had to settle for a well-defended 3-point shot from Devon Baulkman, who missed at the horn.
Georgia Tech came back from a nine-point deficit in the second half, using a 10-0 run of its own to take the lead at 56-55, which it did not relinquish.
FOUR WHO MATTERED
Jacobs: His 17 first-half points helped the Yellow Jackets lead 40-38 at the break. The forward made 9-of-15 from the field and showed a nice touch around the basket.
Marcus Georges-Hunt: The guard scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half and grabbed seven rebounds. The senior also drew a charge in the final two minutes and came up with a key rebound on a loose ball.
Charles Mitchell: The forward posted his second straight double-double. The senior from Marietta had 12 points and 12 rebounds after getting 21 points and 11 rebounds in the opener against Cornell. It was his ninth double-double with Georgia Tech.
Armani Moore: The Tennessee player from Kennesaw scored 17 points but made only 5-of-20 from the field.
TURNING POINT
Georgia Tech went into an offensive funk in the second half and allowed the Vols to go on an 11-0 run and take a nine-point lead. But the Yellow Jackets roared back with their own 10-0 run and took a 58-55 lead when Jacobs scored inside. Georgia Tech's defense, particularly by Georges-Hunt and James White, made the difference down the stretch.
OBSERVATIONS
White's impact: The preseason reports about the athleticism of graduate transfer James White are on the money. The 6-foot-6 forward from Jonesboro, who played at Arkansas-Little Rock, showed some exceptional defense. The highlight occurred with 5:06 left in the first half when White came over the top to block Jabari McGhee's layup, which went the other way and turned into a basket for Adam Smith.
Point guards not scoring: Georgia Tech continues to get little on offense from the point guard duo of Josh Heath and Travis Jorgenson. They combined for no points Monday, going a combined 0-for-4 from the field and 0-for-3 from the line.
What this result means: This could be a big win for Georgia Tech. It was certainly the sort of game it might have lost on its final possession a year ago.
WORTH MENTIONING
Yellow Jackets' starting lineup: Georgia Tech started Marcus Georges-Hunt, Charles Mitchell and Nick Jacobs at forward, Adam Smith at guard and Josh Heath at point guard. They started the same lineup in the season opener against Cornell. The first subs were point guard Travis Jorgenson and forwards Quinton Stephens and Ben Lammers at 16:02.
Series history: Tennessee leads the series 42-28 in a series that began in 1921. It was their first meeting since 2004 in Knoxville.
WHAT'S NEXT
Georgia Tech continues a four-game homestand at 7 p.m. on Thursday with a game against Green Bay.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Brian Gregory: “In the big picture that’s a great win for us. We figured out and found a way to win the game. We had some guys make some big plays for us. We responded when we were down and we made some plays down the stretch. The defensive coverage on the last play was perfect.”
Jacobs: “I was just trusting teammates and trusting that they would get me the ball and then just doing what the coaches tell me to do, which is play hard and defend. I just happened to have a big impact offensively.”
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes: “I thought our guys showed a lot of fight. I didn’t think we were disciplined at all on the offensive end when we had the lead. We just got too loose with the ball and had silly turnovers. Guys were doing things that we hadn’t seen as a staff.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 10:04 PM with the headline "Georgia Tech holds off Tennessee ."