THE FLATS – A four-and-a-half minute, second-half scoring drought for Georgia Tech men’s basketball proved to be too much to overcome as it fell 79-62 to hot-shooting North Carolina on Sunday afternoon at McCamish Pavilion.
After keeping the first half neck-and-neck, reaching the intermission tied at 31 apiece, Tech edged ahead 35-31 four minutes into the second half before the Tar Heels went on a 19-4 run to take control of the game. The Yellow Jackets (5-3, 0-1 ACC) were unable to keep up with the red-hot shooting Tar Heels (6-2, 1-0 ACC), who shot a blistering 56.4 percent from the field and 58.8 percent from three-point land to push their lead out to 19.
Conversely, Tech shot at a 46.3-percent clip overall, including a 42.9 percentage from downtown.
Individually, the Jackets had a balanced attack offensively. Michael Devoe, Khalid Moore and Deebo Coleman all led the way with 13 points apiece, while Kyle Sturdivant also finished in double digits with 11 points.
North Carolina was led by RJ Davis, who paced them with 23 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Georgia Tech remains in Atlanta when it hosts LSU at State Farm Arena, home of the Atlanta Hawks, for the Holiday Hoopsgiving. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
Michael Devoe (0 – above) continues to pace Georgia Tech, co-leading the team with 13 points on Sunday. (photo by Anthony McClellan)
Post-Game Notes
- North Carolina’s 56.4-percent shooting from the floor and its 58.8 percent from three-point range were season highs against Tech.
- Tech’s 10 steals against the Tar Heels were a season high.
- Tech has outrebounded its opponent in six of eight games this season, but North Carolina won the battle Sunday, 33-21.
- Tech matched its season low for turnovers with 10 (also 10 vs. Lamar), but lost the turnover battle for the fifth time in seven games this season.
- After scoring more than 80 points each against Georgia and Charleston Southern, the Yellow Jackets have fallen short of 70 in each of their last three games. Tech has shot 42.1 collectively over its last three games
- After hitting just four 3s in 17 attempts (all by Michael Devoe) against Miami of Ohio, Georgia Tech has gone 52-of-122 (42.6 percent) in the last six games, including 6-of-16 against North Carolina (three players hit a 3 in the game).
- Tech has just 15 assists combined in its last two games on 47 made field goals, far below its season percentage.
- Khalid Moore has scored 21 points over Tech’s last two games on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor. The 6-7 senior scored 13 against North Carolina, a career-best vs. an ACC opponent, for his eighth career double-digit game. He scored eight against Wisconsin when he was limited by foul trouble. His season high prior to that was five in each of the first three games of the season.
- Michael Devoe has hit a 3 in his last 17 straight games dating back to last Feb. 10 vs. Virginia, and went 5-of-10 from distance against Wisconsin. The 2021 ACC Tournament MVP made at least one in 23 of 26 games last season, including the final 10 in a row.
- Devoe was 1-of-5 from three-point range and has connected on 54.5 percent for the season. He is averaging 23.4 points per game. Devoe led the nation in both categories entering the game Sunday.
- Devoe has reached double figures in 17 straight games as well, with that Virginia game being the last time he didn’t, and has done so 66 times in his career. He has scored 20 or more points 24 times.
- Freshman Deebo Coleman reached double figures in points for the third time this season, scoring 13 against North Carolina. He previously scored 12 against Stetson and 19 vs. Lamar back-to-back in games 2-3 this season.
- Coleman hit 2-of-3 from three-point range against North Carolina and is 12-of-23 for the season.
Jordan Usher (4 – above) finished with eight points and three rebounds on Sunday afternoon against North Carolina. (photo by Anthony McClellan)
