Georgia Tech upends No. 4 Virginia

ATLANTA -- Georgia Tech finally got its breakthrough win.

It didn't look possible when the Yellow Jackets wasted a 15-point lead and allowed Virginia to tie the game.

Then they got serious.

Georgia Tech went on a run and hung on to stun the fourth-ranked Cavaliers 68-64 in what arguably could be called the biggest win in head coach Brian Gregory's five-year tenure. It was the first win against a ranked team since last year's win over No. 23 Miami.

The star was junior forward Quinton Stephens, who was making his first start of the year and the first ACC start of his career. Stephens was one of three Yellow Jackets players to score 16 points, and he was 4-for-4 on 3-pointers and two of them came during the 11-0 run that put the game away.

Guard Adam Smith and forward Nick Jacobs also scored 16 points for Georgia Tech, which improved to 11-5 and 1-2 in the ACC.

THREE WHO MATTERED

Stephens: The long-limbed junior shot 6-of-8 from the floor and added five rebounds, one assist and two blocked shots.

Smith: He played 35 controlled minutes and scored 16 points. He was 4-for-9 on 3-pointers and added six rebounds and two assists.

Marcus Georges-Hunt: He was dogged all game by Virginia All-American Malcolm Brogdon, which helps explain his five-point effort. But Georges-Hunt also limited Brogdon to 19 points, which came on 8-for-20 shooting and only 1-for-9 on 3-pointers.

TURNING POINT

No question it was the three minutes that followed what appeared to be another failure by Georgia Tech to close one out. Virginia had battle back to tie the game at 49 and seemed to have all the momentum. But the Yellow Jackets outscored the Cavaliers 11-0, with Stephens knocking down a pair 3-pointers and Smith draining another trey to give them a commanding lead.

OBSERVATIONS

Moving pieces: Georgia Tech shook up its starting lineup. Forward James White started in place of Jacobs; it was White's third start of the year. Stephens also started at the wing, which put Josh Smith on the bench and meant Adam Smith opened the game at point guard.

Giving credit: Forward Charles Mitchell had only two points in the first half, but he also had two assists. One came on a hook pass that came as he was driving to the hole and resulted in a nice basket for Jacobs.

Due diligence: Georgia Tech was extremely patient on offense, often threatening the 30-second shot clock. The Yellow Jackets were trying to get the ball inside and rarely settled for a bad perimeter shot.

THEY SAID IT

Gregory on the importance of the win: "Our wins against Georgia, for me, are always big, personally. But outside of that, this was by far our biggest win. We've got some big wins, but they've been on the road. But I think our guys went into the game expecting to win the game."

Stephens, who found out he was going to start Thursday: "It was all about confidence, really. We felt comfortable with one another, we liked the group. I was really looking forward to the opportunity and tried to make the most of it."

Stephens on the 11-0 run that put the game away: "Funny thing, once it was 49-up, all of us had smile on our faces. In the timeout we were like, 'OK, if they want to make it a game, let's make it a game.' We came out and did what we had to do, made a little cushion and were able to knock down some free throws."

Georges-Hunt on the importance of the win: "This is probably the biggest (in my career), and it feels pretty good."

WHAT'S NEXT?

Georgia Tech plays again Wednesday when it travels to Notre Dame.

This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 6:09 PM with the headline "Georgia Tech upends No. 4 Virginia ."