Brooklyn, N.Y. – An incredible late rally fell just short for Georgia Tech basketball in the opening round of the 2022 New York Life Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, as the Yellow Jackets cut a 27-point second-half deficit to all the way down to five, but comeback fell just short in a 84-74 loss to Louisville on Tuesday night at the Barclays Center.
Louisville controlled the action for much of the first 30 minutes of the game and led 67-40 with 12:07 to go. But Georgia Tech, the reigning ACC champion, would not go down without a fight, as it outscored the Cardinals 28-6 over the next 9:10 to cut the deficit all the way to five points at 73-68 with 2:57 remaining. The 28-6 spurt was kick-started by a 19-0 run.
Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets, the rally ran out of steam, as Jarrod West made 3-pointers for Louisville on each of its next two possessions after Tech had drawn within five and the Cardinals pulled away down the stretch.
For the game, Georgia Tech and Louisville were nearly identical in field goal percentage (UL – 48%; GT – 47%) but the Cardinals held a 38-28 advantage in rebounds, including a 12-5 edge on the offensive boards, which led to UL outscoring the Jackets by a 12-4 margin on second-chance points.
Playing in his final game for the White and Gold, Jordan Usher scored a team-high-tying 19 points. Freshman Miles Kelly matched Usher with a career-high 19 points, which came on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 efficiency from 3-point range. Michael Devoe added 15 points to round out three Yellow Jackets in double-figures.
Louisville’s West led all scorers with 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field (4-of-6 on 3-pointers).
After winning the 2021 ACC title and finishing with back-to-back above-.500 records in ACC play each of the last two seasons, Georgia Tech’s 2021-22 campaign came to a close with a 12-20 record.
True freshman Miles Kelly scored a career-high 19 points to nearly help lead Georgia Tech back from a 27-point second-half deficit in Tuesday’s ACC Tournament loss to Louisville. (photo courtesy of the Atlantic Coast Conference)
Post-Game Notes
- Tech fell 2-5 all-time in the Barclays Center.
- Tech fell to 8-9 this season in games decided by 10 points or fewer.
- Tech started all three of its freshmen – Deebo Coleman, Miles Kelly and Jalon Moore – for the first time this season, replacing its three seniors Michael Devoe, Jordan Usher and Khalid Moore. Coleman made his fifth start of the season, while Kelly and Moore started for the first time. No Tech player started every game this season.
- Tech’s 46 points in the second half against Louisville was its highest scoring half against an ACC opponent this season, beating the 45 the Yellow Jackets scored in the second half of the first meeting with Boston College on Jan. 12.
- Tech utilized nine players against Louisville, and eight of them scored. Only twice this season has Tech utilized as few as seven players in a game (Jan. 26 vs. Florida State, March 2 at Clemson). Backup point guard Deivon Smith did not play for the fifth straight game while under concussion protocol. At least nine players have seen action in 21 of the Jackets’ 31 games, and in 12 of 20 ACC games.
- Tech went 8-of-18 (44.4 pct.) from three-point range against Louisville and finished the season at 35.3 percent, the highest success rate for a season under Josh Pastner and highest since the 2015-16 season
- Tech won the turnover battle in 12 of its last 19 games (10 for Tech to 9 for Louisville). Tech forced 13.3 turnovers against ACC teams this season (No. 3 in the conference), and was No. 2 in steals (8.1 per game).
- Tech committed more fouls than its opponent in 24 of 32 games this season (75 percent of the time). In Josh Pastner’s first five seasons, the Jackets did so in 65 of 157 games (41.4 percent of the time).
- Tech hit 73 percent of its free throws (116-of-159) over its final 12 games since a 3-for-10 performance Jan. 29 against Miami.
- Tech has a current winning streak against three ACC teams (Boston College, Florida State, Pittsburgh), having won the last three meetings against FSU and Pitt, and the last four vs. BC.
- Jordan Usher finished the season scoring in double digits in 26 of 32 games, scoring 19 against Louisville.
- Usher also dished a career-best nine assists and nearly became the first Tech player with double-digit assists since Josh Heath on Jan. 15, 2017.
- Usher scored at least 10 points, grabbed six-plus rebounds and dished five-plus assists in a game for the ninth time this season.
- Michael Devoe reached double digits in 27 of his 31 games this season (he missed one game due to the flu). He finished his Tech career in 12th place in career points at Tech with 1,703.
- Freshman Miles Kelly reached double figures for the third time this season with a season-high 19 vs. Louisville, following up his 16-point effort in the regular-season finale against Boston College. He also had 10 in Tech’s Feb. 5 win vs. Clemson.
- Kelly hit 21-of-45 (46.7) from three-point range over Tech’s last 12 games dating back to Jan. 23 vs. Clayton State. He was 5-for-30 over the Jackets’ first 17 games of the season. He has knocked down three triples against five ACC teams, including Louisville in the ACC Tournament.
- Kyle Sturdivant posted a 43:16 assist/turnover ratio over his last 15 games dating back to Jan. 23 vs. Clayton State. He has played 11 turnover-free games this season and had a 47:21 ratio in ACC games.
- Freshman Deebo Coleman hit 22-of-55 tries from three-point range (40 percent) over the last 16 games of the season. He missed his only try against Louisville.
- Coleman committed just 21 turnovers in more than 733 minutes during the season (12 in 483 ACC minutes).
