Jarrod West Powers Louisville to ACC Tournament Victory Over Georgia Tech

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Things were looking pretty bleak for Louisville down the stretch of their first round ACC Tournament game.

After playing arguably their best half of basketball, the Cardinals looked like they were going to run away with it, pushing their lead over Georgia Tech to 27 after eight minutes of play in the second half.

Then, things started to unravel in a hurry. In seemingly the blink of an eye, the Yellow Jackets fired off a 19-0 run to trim Louisville's lead to single digits. A few minutes later, Tech made it five point game with only 2:57 left to go.

Every ounce of momentum was in favor of Georgia Tech. Given this Louisville team's track record of an inability to handle adversity well, it seemed like almost a foregone conclusion that they were going to find a way to complete the choke job.

Then Jarrod West stepped up.

After the Jackets pulled within five, the graduate transfer guard drilled a three-pointer for what was Louisville's biggest shot of the night, and maybe the season. GT's Michael Devoe responded with a pair of free throws, but then West countered that with another three.

Samuell Williamson would add a layup with 1:21 to go to make it a double digit lead, then West would trade free throws with Tech's Jordan Usher to essentially put the game on ice.

"I was feeling good, man. I'm not going to lie," West said after the game. "The game got tight. Obviously, a lot tighter than we want it to be. They were making a run. I think playing in as many games as I have, it's crazy that things like that happen. I feel like I was pretty composed and I stayed in the moment, and I was pretty focused on what was going on right now."

That stretch was far from West's only contribution. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound point guard led all scorers with 20 points, going 6-8 from the field, 4-6 on three-point attempts and 4-5 at the free throw line. He also chipped in with a season high four steals and three assists.

West's 20 points were not only a season high for him, but it was the most he had scored since dropping 29 against Middle Tennessee back on Feb. 13, 2021 when he was still with Marshall. It also matched his scoring total from the previous four games combined.

In fact, the Clarksburg, W. Va. native largely had an underwhelming regular season. He did lead the Cardinals in assists and steals, but only averaged 5.8 points per game, and shot 36.4 percent from the field. In his final year with Marshall, he averaged 12.5 points and shot 40.8 percent on three-pointers.

Even though West didn't put on display his scoring prowess through much of the regular season, interim head coach Mike Pegues wasn't surprised by his performance against GT.

"I'm thrilled for him," he said. "I know Jarrod has been a big-time three-point shooter his entire career. He didn't shoot the ball the way he would have liked throughout the season, but he made some huge shots.

"I go back to the Bahamas against Maryland. He knocks down a huge three in a similar situation with Maryland storming back and he stays them off and secures the win for us. He's made big shots like you said in his career. I'm so thrilled that he doesn't care about the numbers. He just understands who he is as a player."

Louisville is set to face Virginia in the second round of the ACC Tournament. Tip-off is set for Wednesday, Mar. 9 at 9:30 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Jarrod West via Atlantic Coast Conference)

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