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THE FLATS — Georgia Tech men’s basketball put on a 9-0 run in the second half to pull within three, but was unable to get over the hump, falling 63-58 to Virginia on Saturday night at McCamish Pavilion.
The Yellow Jackets (8-10, 3-5 ACC) shot right at 50 percent overall and tallied their highest point total against Virginia in six years, while the Cavaliers (12-5, 4-3 ACC) finished a shade below at 47.2 percent.
Leading the way offensively for Tech was Jose Alvarado, who finished with a game-high 20 points off 8-of-14 shooting. Also finishing in double digits was James Banks III, who was just one rebound shy of a double-double at 10 and nine.
UVA finished with three double-digit scorers on the night. Jay Huff and Mamadi Diakite led the way with 17 points apeice, while Braxton Key finished with 10.
Georgia Tech now heads back out on the road for a quick one-game road trip at Louisville on Wednesday, Jan. 22. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Eastern time and will be broadcast live on RSN.
Jordan Usher (4) had six points on Saturday night vs. Virginia as Georgia Tech shot 50 percent (25-for-50) for the game (photos by Danny Karnik).
Post-Game Notes
TEAM NOTES
- Tech is 5-4 away from McCamish Pavilion this season, 3-6 at home.
- Tech has trailed at halftime in 13 of its 18 games this season, coming back to win four of those games. The Jackets are 14-49 when trailing at the half under Josh Pastner.
- Tech’s 58 points against Virginia was its most against the Cavaliers in six games, dating back to a 68-64 win over UVA on Jan. 16, 2016. Tech has averaged 71.2 points per game away from home this season (76.75 in its four ACC road games), and averaged 63.6 at McCamish Pavilion.
- Tech has shot 50 percent from the floor six times this season, and five times in its last seven games. The Jackets connected on an even 50 percent percent against Virginia, hitting 61.1 percent in the first half. It was the second time, however, that Tech has lost this season when shooting 50 percent (Notre Dame was the other), and the Jackets are 20-6 when shooting 50 percent under Josh Pastner.
- Tech assisted on 16 of 25 made field goals against and has assisted on 137 of 217 made field goals in ACC games (63.1 percent), the best rate in the ACC according to KenPom.com.
- Tech has averaged 43.2 points in the paint over its last five games, compared to 30.8 for its opponents.
- Tech is just 13-of-24 from the foul line in its last two games after hitting better than 70 percent in seven consecutive games. Tech has converted 112-of-154 attempts (72.7 percent) in its last nine games.
- The Jackets have hit 33.8 percent of their three-point field goal attempts in ACC games, which ranks middle-of-the-pack, compared with just 25.4 percent out of conference.
- Tech has averaged 15.4 turnovers over its last nine games since the return of Jose Alvarado, compared with 17.4 prior to that. With Alvarado on the floor this year, Tech has averaged 15.6 turnovers, compared with 18.6 in the seven games in which he was absent.
- Tech is plus-2 assist-to-turnovers in ACC games, minus-56 in non-conference games. The Jackets have been on the plus side of that ledger in three of the last five games.
- Tech also is plus-9 collectively on the boards over its last six games since returning from Hawai’i (six ACC opponents).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Jose Alvarado notched his second game of 20 or more points this season (also had 25 against North Carolina) and the 12th of his career.
- Alvarado has hit 11-of-25 shots (44 pct.) from three-point range in his last five games (12-of-7 vs. Virginia) and is 28-of-52 overall (53.8 pct.) during that stretch.
- Alvarado posted his lowest assist total (2) since recording one against Boise State on Dec. 22. Still, he has set or matched his career high in assists three times in the last five games, dishing eight at North Carolina, eight at Boston College and nine against Notre Dame. The 6-foot junior has averaged 6,29 assists in league games. Alvarado has 32 assists, 10 steals and 13 turnovers in his last five games, and has a 55/24 assist/turnover ratio for the season. His 2.29 assist/turnover ratio in ACC games ranks sixth in the league.
- James Banks III came up one rebound shy of posting his fifth double-double this season (10 points, nine rebounds against Virginia).
- Banks has averaged 11.9 points and 8.0 rebounds against ACC teams this season, hitting 56.7 percent of his shots from the floor.
- Banks matched his career high with five assists against Virginia, but blocked just one shot.
- Moses Wright snapped a streak of eight straight games scoring in double figures after getting just seven points against Virginia (3-10 FG). The 6-9 junior ranks No. 2 in the ACC in field goal percentage (53.8) and No. 7 in rebound average (7.8).
- Wright is Tech’s high scorer and rebounder in ACC games at 14.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, and he has hit 50 percent of his shots from the floor against the league.
- Wright has connected on 71.0 percent of his free throws (22-of-31) over Tech’s last nine games after going just 4-of-14 in the first nine games of the season.
- Evan Cole is averaging better than five points per game and hitting 50 percent of his shots from the floor against power conference teams (6 pts, 3-6 FG, 4 reb vs. Virginia).
- Bubba Parham is 14-of-30 from the floor in his last six games, 7-of-15 on threes. All five of his double-figure games this season have come against power-conference foes (Georgia, Arkansas, Syracuse, Kentucky and North Carolina).
James Banks III (1) finished just one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with 10 points and nine boards (photos by Danny Karnik).
