Duke Downs Tech, 75-68, After Late Spurt

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DURHAM, N.C. – Jose Alvarado scored 26 points and Moses Wright posted a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds but Duke scored 12 of the game’s final 16 points to hand Georgia Tech men’s basketball a 75-68 loss on Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Georgia Tech (7-5, 3-3 ACC), which trailed 33-25 at halftime and was down by as many as 11 points in the second half, rallied to make it a nail-biter down the stretch. The Yellow Jackets pulled even at 52-52 on a Jordan Usher steal and layup with 9:30 remaining in the game and after trading blows with the Blue Devils for much of the next six minutes, took the lead at 64-63 with 3:21 to go following a 3-pointer from Alvarado.

However, Duke (6-5, 4-3 ACC) closed the game on a 12-4 run, which was highlighted by making 8-of-11 free throws in the final three minutes of the contest. For the contest, the Blue Devils were awarded 22 free throws (18-of-22) compared to just five for the Jackets (4-of-5).

Alvarado’s game-high 26 points came on a 10-for-15 shooting performance from the field. He also dishing out five assists and had three of Tech’s eight steals. Wright recorded a team-high six assists and blocked four shots to go along with his 12-point, 14-rebound double-double.

Georgia Tech continues a grueling stretch of four matchups against nationally ranked opponents in five games on Saturday when it hosts No. 16 Florida State at McCamish Pavilion. The game tips at 4 p.m. (EST) and will be televised live on the ACC Network.

Jose Alvarado made 10-of-15 field goals for a game-high 26 points on Tuesday night at Duke. (photo by Nat LeDonne)

 

Post-Game Notes

TEAM NOTES

• Georgia Tech has lost two straight games for the first time since the first two games of this season. Both losses came on the road by a total of nine points.
• Tech failed to reach 70 points for just the third time this season.
• For the ninth time in its last 10 games, Tech won the turnover battle and had more assists than turnovers. Only against Florida State (11 assists, 12 turnovers, FSU has 12 turnovers) did the Jackets fall short.
• Tech forced 14 Duke turnovers but could score only eight points from them, the lowest number this season. The Jackets have forced 15.7 turnovers per game this season, 15.3 per game against ACC foes, and has the second-best turnover margin in the conference (plus-4.36)
• Tech (8-of-24 at Duke) has connected on 70 of its 158 three-point attempts in its last six games (44.3 percent) and is up to 37.7 percent for the season, 42.3 percent in ACC games. The Jackets are averaging 8.8 made threes per game (3.6 per game more than they made in 2019-20), and rank fourth in the ACC. Tech is averaging a league-high 9.5 threes in ACC games.
• Since going to its smaller lineup, Tech has had just 19 shots blocked in its last 10 games, seven of those by Virginia. The Yellow Jackets had 13 shots blocked in their two season-opening losses.
• Tech has collected 49 steals in its last five games and is averaging an ACC-high 9.3 in conference games. The Jackets are averaging 9.1 in all games.
• INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS
• Jose Alvarado scored 20-plus points for the second straight game, notching a game-high 26 at Duke (10-15 FG, 3-5 3pt FG) with five assists and three steals against Virginia. It was his seventh game of 20 or more points this season, fourth against an ACC team.
• Alvarado has connected on 61.5 percent of his shots from the floor in ACC games, 48 percent from three-point range.
• Alvarado has made a three-point basket in 30 straight games (he went 3-for-5 vs. Duke). He sits 12^th on Tech’s all-time list for three-pointers with 152.
• Alvarado remains in 29^th place in career scoring at Georgia Tech with 1,251 points in his career. He needs two points to catch 28^th-place Drew Barry (1,253 points from 1993-96).
• With three steals at Duke, Alvarado passed Jarrett Jack for sixth place on Tech’s all-time list with 185. The senior’s five assists against Duke kept him in 13^th place on the Tech career chart (329).
• Alvarado, Michael Devoe and Bubba Parham have combined to hit 47-of-98 collectively (48 percent) in Tech’s last seven games (7-of-14 vs. North Carolina, 6-of-12 vs. Delaware State, 8-of-19 vs. Florida A&M, 7-of-13 vs. Clemson, 6-of-9 at Virginia, 5-of-12 at Duke).
• Alvarado and Devoe are averaging 17.4 and 14.3 points per game, respectively, in ACC games. They have shot 53 percent from the floor combined (71-of-134) and 47.5 percent (29-of-61) from three-point range.
• Moses Wright scored 12 points with 14 rebounds for his first double-double since the Yellow Jackets first game of the season (31/19 vs. Georgia State). It was the ninth double-double of his career.
• Since the beginning of the 2019-20 season, Wright has hit double figures in 34 of 44 games. The 6-9 senior has connected on 51 percent of his shots from the floor this season, and is 7-of-17 from three-point range
• Wright now has 894 points in his career, and elevated his career rebound total of 498. He is bidding to become the 21^st player in Tech history with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in a career.
• Alvarado and Wright each played the full 40 minutes against Duke, the first 40-minute regulation game of the season for each player. Alvarado, who has played 15 complete games in his career, ranks No. 3 in the ACC in average minutes (36.4), while Alvarado is fourth.
• Bubba Parham had no turnovers for the seventh time in 12 games and has committed just six turnovers all season with 24 assists. He has turned the ball more than once only one time.

Moses Wright stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots against Duke. (photo by Nat LeDonne)

 

 

Game Highlights

 

Post-Game Press Conference

Head coach Josh Pastner

Senior guard Jose Alvarado