Georgia Tech Strong in Home Finale, Closes Out Louisville 83-67
Even though Louisville came into this one 4-25, the Jackets could not underestimate their opponent. Yes, the Cardinals haven't won a single game on the road - a streak that continues with their loss tonight. But, overconfidence is how they ended up losing to this same team, 58-68, earlier this month.
Now that coach Josh Pastner has found a starting lineup that he seems to like, he deployed it again today.
Senior Ja'von Franklin, who was a transfer from South Alabama, has been extremely impressive in February. He's been averaging a double-double coming into Saturday's contest and leads the team in rebounds, steals, and blocks. He was honored prior to the game, alongside longtime Yellow Jacket and fellow senior Coleman Boyd.
In the first half, the Jackets came out shooting. They stayed at around 50% from 3 for essentially the entire half and looked confident in their shots. Lance Terry and Deebo Coleman both hit multiple big threes to stave off a Lousiville team that did not pack it in.
Terry was especially accurate from the corner, as he hit a majority of his threes from that spot and looked comfortable doing so. It's good to see, considering that his injury in January could have easily derailed his season.
This was a tough, aggressive game from the get-go and spilled over into a lot of fouling on both sides. Even though there weren't many shooting fouls, there were multiple occasions of Louisville drawing calls on rather light contact from Tech defenders. Tech had five team fouls in only four minutes.
Still, it didn't affect them from beyond the arc. Even though Coleman and Terry were instrumental in the 3-pt department, the whole team clearly took it upon themselves to make those open shots and set up easy looks.
He also got smacked in the mouth by a Louisville defender and briefly left to get cleaned up. Regardless of intention, it was clear that this one was going to be a foul fest on both sides. For their part, the Jackets did not back down and pushed back against some bully ball in the pain to get the call.
The key to Louisville sticking with a more talented team in the first half was their presence in the paint. Tech did not look very strong on the interior or protecting the rim. Multiple times, a Louisville player had a clear drive to the basket or the Tech big men seemed disinterested in making the paint paths rough. Louisville forward JJ Traynor had a few big plays inside.
That being said, the first-half defense was largely fine outside of that. They kept Louisville to an anemic 20% shooting percentage from 3 and did a great job of trapping and challenging at the point of attack. Eventually, the interior of the defense did tighten up and as a result, the Louisville offense really stagnated.
On offense, Miles Kelly was very impressive for the Jackets. The team leader in points, he dropped 24 against Tuesday's contest with Pitt and continued to score well in this one. He had two particularly nice plays: a wild reverse layup and corner 3, both of which had McCamish shaking. He also shot the ball well from 3-point range, converting his open looks.
The Jackets took a 45-32 lead into the half, closing out with a 9 of 12 shooting performance from the field.
The second-half Jackets definitely weren't as impressive from 3 but were still solid. A large part of this had to do with Lance Terry slightly regressing from his corner-three hot streak. Even though he got good looks on those shots, they didn't quite bounce his way. Kyle Sturdivant did a really good job of setting him up on those plays and overall operated the offense pretty well.
The Jacket's defense also slumped a bit during this half. Kelly got blown by on a few drives to the rim and the defense generally looked more passive. Louisville still didn't improve their shooting percentages or percentage from 3, but they crushed it on the glass. They had 34 rebounds to Tech's 23
Their second-chance points and offensive rebounds were especially crucial to them cutting a thirteen-point lead to five. They bodied GT on the inside, which did lead to some fouls but set a physical tone.
JJ Traynor continued to pester the Jackets in this one. He had several nice finishes with defenders draped over him and even had a big dunk that got the Louisville crowd on its feet - and the team within five points with five minutes to go.
Luckily, the Tech offense locked in down the stretch. They hit on five of their last seven shots and continued to stay efficient from the free-throw and three-point line. As a team, the Jackets shot 85% from the stripe, which was critical in a game like this where the refs had an active whistle.
Franklin and Miles Kelly were especially locked in - Franklin had a huge dunk on a steal and Kelly continued to dazzle from inside and beyond the arc. Kyle Sturdivant also recorded a quietly impressive double-double.
The Jackets pulled away thanks to their clutch shooting to make it a healthy double-digit lead. With less than a minute on the clock, Pastner subbed in Coleman Boyd, who immediately connected with Franklin for the assist. It was a really cool moment for Boyd in his final game at McCamish.
Overall, it was a great win for the team and a good way to send their seniors off. Franklin had a dominant 21 pt, 14 rebound performance and Boyd was able to get on the stat sheet in his final home game. They'll look to carry this into their Tuesday afternoon matchup at Syracuse.
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