South Bend, Ind. – Jordan Usher scored 16 points to lead three players in double figures, but Georgia Tech was unable to contain a hot-shooting Notre Dame team and fell to the Fighting Irish, 90-56, Saturday evening at the Purcell Pavilion.
Tech (11-18, 4-14 ACC) converted just 34.4 percent of its field goals in the game, 4-of-20 from three-point range, while Notre Dame (21-8, 14-4 ACC) hit 57.1 percent of its shots from the floor, 13-of-23 from three-point range, to keep pace with Duke and its hold on second place in the conference standings.
Notre Dame, which shot 66.7 percent and hit 7-of-11 from three-point range in the first half, took control of the game with a 10-0 run behind a pair of three-pointers and a layup from Dane Goodwin, giving his team a 38-19 lead with 2:58 remaining. The Fighting Irish continued to build their lead from there, and Tech was never able to trim its deficit.
Goodwin didn’t score in the second half but still finished the game with a game-high 17 points, while freshman Blake Wesley scored 15, Prentiss Hubb 13 and Paul Atkinson, Jr., 10.
Usher hit 6-of-8 shots from the floor and 4-of-4 from the foul line to pace Tech’s scoring. Kyle Sturdivant overcame early foul trouble to score 11, and Rodney Howard posted his fourth double-digit game in the last five with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Georgia Tech returns to action Wednesday for its final road game of the regular season, a 7 p.m. tip at Clemson in a rematch of the Jackets’ 69-64 win on Feb. 5 in Atlanta. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.
Rodney Howard posted his fourth double-digit game in the last five with 10 points and eight rebounds. (photo courtesy of Notre Dame athletics/Andrew Oelschlager)
Post-Game Notes
- Tech’s bench was outscored 27-12 by Notre Dame, but the Jackets’ bench has outscored that of its opponents 137-93 in the last seven games. The Jackets’ reserves have outscored opponents’ reserves in 16 of 29 games this season (only six of 26 last season).
- Tech has won the turnover battle in 11 of its last 16 games (season-low seven for GT to 11 for Notre Dame). Tech has forced 13.3 turnovers against ACC teams this season (No. 3 in the conference), and is No. 2 in steals (8.3 per game).
- Tech has committed more fouls than its opponent in 21 of 29 games this season (72.4 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 has hit 74.8 percent of its free throws (83-of-111) over its nine games since a 3-for10 performance Jan. 29 against Miami.
- Jordan Usher has reached double figures in 24 of 29 games this season.
- Rodney Howard has scored in double figures in five of Tech’s last six games (10 points on 5-of-10 FG at Notre Dame). He also snapped a streak of four games in which he had fouled out.
- Howard has averaged 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds over Tech’s last six games and hit 33-of-51 shots from the floor (64.7 pct.) in that stretch.
- Kyle Sturdivant has a 34:12 assist/turnover ratio over his last 12 games dating back to Jan. 23 vs. Clayton State. He played his 10th turnover-free game of the season (in 26 minutes) against Notre Dame.
- Freshman Deebo Coleman missed on all six of his three-point chances after going 21-of-44 from three-point range in his previous 12 games.
- Freshman Miles Kelly has hit 14-of-34 (41.2) from three-point range over Tech’s last nine games dating back to Jan. 23 vs. Clayton State. He was 5-for-30 over the Jackets’ first 17 games of the season.
- Freshman Jalon Moore has played more than 15 minutes in each of Tech’s last three games. The 6-7 forward from Birmingham, Ala., had averaged less than six minutes and played in only eight of the Yellow Jackets’ first 26 games this season. Moore played 15:17 at Syracuse, 16:29 against Virginia Tech and 16:15 at Notre Dame, scoring a total of 10 points with eight rebounds.
Jordan Usher hit 6-of-8 shots from the floor and led Tech with 16 points. (photo courtesy of Notre Dame athletics/Andrew Oelschlager)
Multimedia
Postgame audio – head coach Josh Pastner, senior Jordan Usher
