Georgia Tech's Season Ends With Loss To Pitt in Second Round of ACC Tournament
After trailing by as many as 15 in this game, Georgia Tech mounted a comeback effort to try and beat the fifth-seed Pitt Panthers in the second round of the ACC Tournament. That comeback attempt fell short, however, as Pitt was able to put together a great performance on offense to hold off the Yellow Jackets and end their season.
The loss snaps Georgia Tech's four-game winning streak and the speculation around head coach Josh Pastner's job will be there until there is a definitive statement about whether he is returning for an eighth season or not.
Georgia Tech scored over 80 points in this game, but it mattered not because of how good the Panthers were on offense, especially in the 1st half.
The starting lineup saw no changes (no surprise) with Lance Terry, Kyle Sturdivant, Miles Kelly, Deebo Coleman, and Ja'von Franklin.
In the first half, Georgia Tech's offense was slightly better than it was yesterday, but it still struggled. The bigger issue for the Yellow Jackets was the defense. Pitt shot the ball well in the first half and Tech could not stop the Panther's attack.
After trading baskets for the first four minutes of the game, Georgia Tech led 8-6 and had good momentum. A 7-0 run by the Panthers go their lead up to five, but a basket from Franklin cut into that. In just a matter of a couple of minutes though, Tech trailed by seven and Pitt had all of the momentum. The lead was cut to four, 23-20 with 7:30 to go, but Pitt hit a couple of quick buckets to extend the lead to seven.
Another big run was on the way for the Panthers and they lead by 13 with 3:16 to go in the first half. A big reason for the offensive struggles for Georgia Tech in the first half was that leading scorer Miles Kelly not being able to find his rhythm and he did not score in the first half.
Georgia Tech made a few attempts at cutting into the score but was unsuccessful in doing so. Pitt led the game 44-31 at the half and here were the stats:
While Kelly did have a great second half, the defense did not get better.
Georgia Tech opened the second half exactly how it needed to. Down 13 at the half, Tech got going with a 10-2 run to cut the lead to five. Pitt got the lead back to seven, 50-43, but Georgia Tech responded with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to just one point, 50-49. Overall, it was a 19-6 run for the Yellow Jackets to open the half and it was exactly what they needed.
Georgia Tech's season is over after losing to Pitt in the second round
A layup by Kelly gave GT their first lead since early in the second half, but it was short-lived. Pitt would take it back and not give it up for the rest of the game, but things remained close.
With 9:29 remaining in the game, Tech trailed by one, but could not grab the lead back and they could not get enough stops on the defensive end. they got the lead back to seven with 6:31 left in the game.
For the next four minutes of the game, Pitt was keeping Tech at arm's length and keeping the lead manageable. Tech then cut it to four with 2:20 left, courtesy of a pair of free throws from Miles Kelly, but Pitt responded with a 6-2 run to get the lead to eight.
Trailing by eight with under a minute left, Tech hit a pair of free throws and then a jumper by Sturdivant to cut the lead to four with 22 seconds left. GT was going to have to try for a steal or hope that Pitt missed their free throws and that is not what happened. Pitt hit their last four free throws and the Panthers won 89-81 to advance to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals against Duke.
Here were the final stats from today's game:
While Tech got things going on offense and finished shooting 45%, they did not give themselves a chance because they did not get stops. Georgia Tech should win most games if they score 80 points, but their defense did not allow them to.
Franklin was fantastic today and has been over the last month of the season. He finished today's game with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and six steals and was the most consistent player on the floor. Terry was the only starter that did not get into double-digits.
The Yellow Jackets had a solid run over the last month of the season and played well, considering they were short-handed. Whether that is enough to give Pasnter another season in Atlanta is unclear and that is going to be the focus of the program until athletic director J Batt makes a definitive statement on the future of Pastner.
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