THE FLATS – Freshman point guard Naithan George hit a driving left-handed layup over 6-foot-11 All-American Armando Bacot with 7.7 seconds to go, lifting Georgia Tech men’s basketball to a historic 74-73 win over No. 3 North Carolina on Tuesday evening at sold-out McCamish Pavilion.
Georgia Tech, which trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half and led by as many as eight in the final five minutes, was down 73-72 after North Carolina’s R.J. Davis capped a 13-4 UNC run with a driving layup of his own with 34.6 seconds left to play.
However, on the Yellow Jackets’ ensuing possession, George drove from the right wing to the left block and floated the game-winner over Bacot’s long reach, high off the glass and through to give Tech the 74-73 advantage.
After a UNC timeout with 4.6 seconds remaining, the Tar Heels went to Davis again, but he couldn’t get around Tech’s Ebenezer Dowuona and his contested running jumper from the left block was off the mark at the buzzer, setting off a court-storming celebration for the Thrillerdome crowd.
The win was Georgia Tech’s first over a top-3 opponent in nearly 19 years, dating back to a 78-75 victory over No. 3 North Carolina in the 2005 ACC Tournament semifinals (March 12, 2005). It was also the Yellow Jackets’ first regular-season win over a top-3 team since a 76-68 triumph at No. 3 Duke on March 3, 2004, and its first home win over a top-3 foe in three decades, going back to a 89-69 rout over top-ranked UNC on Jan. 12, 1994 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
Making Tech’s win over the third-ranked Tar Heels even more impressive was that the Jackets’ played the final 36 minutes without their second-leading scorer and leading rebounder, ACC Freshman of the Year candidate Baye Ndongo, who was forced out of the game before the first media timeout due to a head injury. Despite being without Ndongo for the majority of the game, the Jackets (10-11, 3-7 ACC) won for just the second time in their last 10 games, while snapping North Carolina’s 10-game winning streak and handing UNC (17-4, 9-1 ACC) their first conference loss of the season.
Several Yellow Jackets stepped up in Ndongo’s absence, none more so than fifth-year senior Kyle Sturdivant, who came off the bench to score 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including a perfect 4-for-4 night from 3-point range. Sturdivant’s 18 points were his most-ever in a home game during his four-year Georgia Tech career (the Atlanta native transferred to Tech following his freshman season at USC).
George’s game-winner capped a 16-point night and Miles Kelly added 15 to round out three Yellow Jackets in double-figures. Tyzhaun Claude, playing 28 minutes (11 more than his season average of 16.9 minutes per game), and Tafara Gapare, playing 25 (10 more than his average of 14.9), grabbed eight rebounds apiece to help fill the void left by Ndongo.
Tech trailed by as many as 11 points late in the first half, but closed the opening period on a 12-1 run to send the game to halftime knotted at 37-37.
Davis led UNC with 28 points while Harrison Ingram pulled down 13 rebounds for the Tar Heels.
Georgia Tech returns to action on Saturday at NC State. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. and the game will be televised across the United States on The CW (Peachtree TV – Ch. 17 in Atlanta).