Dominant First Half Fuels Georgia Tech Win At North Carolina

Powered by a smothering first half of basketball, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets throttled the home North Carolina Tar Heels to the tune of 96-83, improving to .500 on the season and 2-1 in ACC play. The 96 points were the most ever scored by the Jackets in the Dean Dome, and was also the most given up by the Tar Heels at home since 2003.

Few words can describe what transpired at the Dean E. Smith Center in the first 20 minutes of this evening's contest. It was a deadly combination of Georgia Tech being able to score at will around the rim, and UNC lacking the ability to hit any shot at all. The Tar Heels whiffed on their first 15 field goals of the game, and head into the locker room just 7-27 (30.4%) from the floor. Over half of their scoring at that point at point came from junior forward Garrison Brooks, as he had 14 points of 3-9 shooting and 8-8 from the charity stripe. In fact, the would finish with a game high 35 points, sinking half of his shots (9-18) and missing just 1 free throw (17-18).

Meanwhile on the other end of the floor, a normally pedestrian Georgia Tech offense was much more fluid and featured more ball movement than they are used to showcasing. Combined with their efforts on the defensive end of the floor, the Yellow Jackets opened up the game on an astounding 27-4 run fueled mainly by junior forward Moses Wright and his 14 first half points (finished with 22 for the game). The 47-27 Georgia Tech halftime lead was the largest deficit that UNC had ever faced in the history of the Dean E. Smith Center.

Though for a while, there was real concern that UNC could very well mount a comeback. Prior to the first media timeout of the second half, the Tar Heels initiated a 16-5 run, with all the momentum seeming to swing in their favor. While the Heels performed much more efficiently in the second half from an offensive standpoint, Georgia Tech's already potent offense kept on clicking, as they shot 63.0% in the final 20 minutes of the game (17-27). Junior point guard Jose Alvarado was particularly efficient, scoring 16 of his team high 25 points and coming away with 7 of his 8 assists during this time.

Next up, the Yellow Jackets return home to McCamish Pavilion to take on the Duke Blue Devils on Wednesday, January 8th. Tip-off is set for 9:00pm and can be viewed on the ACC Network.

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