Jackets Drop Home Finale

THE FLATS – On Senior Night at McCamish Pavilion, Kowacie Reeves Jr. scored a game-high 19 points and Lamar Washington dished out 10 assists, but Georgia Tech men’s basketball dropped a 76-65 decision to visiting California.

Reeves Jr. and Washington were the catalysts behind a white-hot start for Georgia Tech, which raced out to a 20-8 lead just 10 minutes into the game and carried a 36-32 lead into halftime. But 21-win Cal took control in the second half, outscoring the Yellow Jackets by a 44-29 margin after the break.

Tech fell behind by as many as 16 points in the second half, but battled back to cut the deficit to 66-60 and seemingly pulled within four on a layup by Baye Ndongo with 3:33 to play. However, Ndongo was called for an offensive foul on the play, erasing the big bucket and halting the Jackets’ momentum.

Playing in the final home game of their career, Reeves Jr.’s 19 points came on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range, while Washington’s 10 assists went along with eight rebounds.

Akai Fleming added 16 points and Jaeden Mustaf scored 10 to go along with eight rebounds.

Lee Dort led Cal with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

Georgia Tech wraps up the season on Saturday at Clemson. Tipoff is set for noon on ACC Network.

Senior Kowacie Reeves Jr. sank 5-of-9 3-pointers and scored a game-high 19 points in his final home game as a Yellow Jacket (Danny Karnik photo).

 

Postgame Notes

• Georgia Tech dropped to 11-19 overall and 2-15 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
• Tech shot 39.2 percent (20-51) from the field and used a strong first half to gain an early double-digit lead, shooting 30.3% (13-30) in the opening 20 minutes. Tech was limited to a 33.3% shooting clip in the second half and committed 10 turnovers in the final 20 minutes to just four assists.
• Cal came into the contest 8^th in the ACC in 3-point field goal percentage (35.1%) against league opponents and was held to 0-for-12 effort from long distance in the first half.
• The Golden Bears, however, were 5-of-12 in the second half for a 41.7 percent efficiency from three-point distance.
• Alternatively, Tech went 6-for-16 from three-point range in the first half, fueled by five triples from Kowacie Reeves Jr., but went 0-6 in the second half.
• Kowacie Reeves Jr. reached his 23^rd double-figure scoring game by halftime, leading all scorers with 19 first-half points.
• The redshirt-senior connected on 5-of-8 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes for his 16^th game this season hitting multiple three-pointers.
• Akai Fleming followed with 16 points, going 7-for-7 at the free throw line. Fleming, who leads Georgia Tech in free throws made and free throw percentage, becomes the first Yellow Jacket freshman to go 7-for-7 at the charity stripe in a game since Jose Alvarado did so against Yale on Jan. 6, 2018.
• Fleming’s 16-point performance was the 16^th double-figure scoring game of his collegiate debut season. He has reached 10-plus in three-straight games and four of the past five.
• Jaeden Mustaf completed Tech’s trio of Jackets in double-digits with 10 points. The sophomore hit three field goals and went 4-for-5 at the free throw line. Mustaf just missed a double-double with a team-high eight rebounds.
• Lamar Washington dished out 10 assists for his fourth game this season with 10-plus assists. He flirted with a triple-double, adding eight points and eight rebounds to the board.

 

Lamar Washington led all players with 10 assists and pulled down eight rebounds on Senior Night (Danny Karnik photo).

 

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Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.

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