January 10, 2023

Tech Drops Heartbreaker at Notre Dame

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South Bend, Ind. – Kyle Sturdivant came off the bench to score 18 points, including all seven of Georgia Tech’s points in overtime, but the Yellow Jackets were unable to hold off homestanding Notre Dame and dropped a 73-72 overtime decision to the Fighting Irish Tuesday night at Purcell Pavilion.

Looking to win at Purcell Pavilion for the first time since 1990 and keep Notre Dame (9-8, 1-5 ACC) winless in the ACC, the Yellow Jackets (8-8, 1-5 ACC) led by seven points with 2:31 to go in regulation and led three times in the extra period, but the Fighting Irish fought back each time.

Sturdivant, who played only the final possession of the first half, came off the bench to score 11 in the second period, including baskets on three straight possessions at one point and then a layup that gave the Jackets a 63-56 lead with 3:45 to go. Two free throws by Lance Terry made it 65-58 Tech with 2:31 left.

But Notre Dame rallied to tie the game when freshman J.J. Starling scored a basket and two free throws, and Trey Wertz hit a corner three with just under a minute to play. Both teams had chances to win the game in regulation but were unable to convert, leading the teams tied at 65.

The teams traded the lead six times in the extra frame. Sturdivant scored the first basket of overtime to put Tech ahead 67-65, drained a three-pointer to help the Jackets retake the lead at 70-68, and knocked down a pair of free throws for a 72-71 edge with 39 seconds to play.

Each time, Notre Dame answered, and Nate Laszewski’s two free throws with 23 seconds left proved to be the winning points.

Tech had two shots at a winning basket in the final possession, but Sturdivant missed a three-pointer and Ja’von Franklin missed a jumper in the lane in the final five seconds.

Sturdivant’s 18 points were a career high as he hit 7-of-12 shots from the floor and 2-of-3 from three-point range. Deivon Smith matched his season high with 16 points, adding 10 rebounds and seven assists. Franklin made his first start since Dec. 10 and posted his third double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, adding three assists and four blocks while playing all but three seconds of the game. Miles Kelly was the Jackets’ fourth player in double figures with 11 points.

Dane Goodwin led the Fighting Irish with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Starling finished with 16 points, Laszewski with 14 and Cormac Ryan with 11.

Tech begins a three-game homestand Saturday at 3 p.m. when Pittsburgh visits McCamish Pavilion. The game will be televised live on the ACC Network.

Miles Kelly scored 11 points, including a pair of free throws that extended his streak of consecutive foul shots made to 23. (photo courtesy of Notre Dame athletics)

Post-Game Notes

TEAM NOTES

Tech sent out its seventh different starting lineup of the season at Notre Dame, inserting Ja’von Franklin for Jalon Moore, who had started the last 10 games and was held out due to injury. Franklin started for the first time since Dec. 10 at North Carolina, when he sustained a groin injury and was limited over the next three games.
It also was the first time Howard and Franklin had started together. They have split minutes at the “5” position most of the time this season, playing together for only brief stretches, and for the last 8:09 of Tech’s game at Florida State, in which the Jackets outscored the Seminoles, 17-8.
Tech’s last win at Notre Dame occurred Feb. 24, 1990, a Yellow Jacket team that won the ACC Championship and reached the Final Four behind the Lethal Weapon 3 combination of Kenny Anderson, Dennis Scott and Brian Oliver, who combined for 64 of the Jackets’ points in that 88-80 overtime victory.
Tech is 1-4 in road games this season, 0-3 in conference road games.
Tech is 1-8 this season when the opponent makes a higher percentage of its field goal attempts, 7-0 when it has a better percentage.
Tech’s bench has outscored that of its opponent 10 times in 16 games this season, getting a season-high 37 points at Notre Dame after tallying just 17 against Miami and Florida State combined. The Jackets entered this week’s games No. 2 in the ACC in bench scoring (21.9 ppg).
Because of the absence of Jalon Moore in the game, Tech used just eight players for just the fourth time this season. Nine or more Yellow Jackets have taken the court in 12 of 16 games. The Jackets’ bench, however, accounted for 66 of the 225 minutes in the game (29.3 percent). Tech ranks No. 148 in the nation this season in bench minutes (32.2 pct. entering the game), and only one other Josh Pastner Tech team has seen its reserves play more.
Tech is 33-of-91 (36.2 percent) from three-point range over its last four games, and are at 33 percent for all games this season, 33.6 percent in ACC games.
Tech led the ACC and ranked 10 in the nation in three-point defense (27.7 pct.) before Tuesday night’s game. Notre Dame, Virginia and FSU combined to hit 29-of-71 against the Jackets, while North Carolina, Clemson and Miami were 13-for-63 combined.
Tech is 36-of-43 (83.7 pct.) from the foul line in its last three games and has connected on 75.6 percent from the stripe in ACC games.
Tech has averaged 16.3 turnovers in its last four games, surrendering an average of 19.5 points off those turnovers. Prior to this four-game stretch Tech had averaged just 10.1 turnovers per game.

INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS

After playing barely 12 minutes and not scoring in Tech’s last two games and nearly the entire first half at Notre Dame, Kyle Sturdivant came off the bench to play 13:35 in the second half and all five minutes of overtime, scoring a career-high 18 points against the Irish. He scored all seven of Tech’s points in the overtime period, notching his first double-digit game since his previous season best of 18 on Dec 21 against Clemson. It was his fifth double-digit game this season.
Similarly, Deivon Smith nearly doubled his scoring output from Tech’s last six games (17 points) by scoring 16 against Notre Dame, matching his season high of 16 against North Alabama and posting his first double-digit game since Dec. 6 (10 vs. Georgia).
Smith posted his first career double-double by grabbing 10 rebounds, and added seven assists. The junior point guard is Tech’s third-leading rebounder (5.5 per game) and averages a team-leading 3.6 assists. His 2.41 assist/turnover ratio ranks among the ACC’s leaders.
Over his last three games, Smith has 24 rebounds (8.0 pg) and 18 assists (6.0 pg).
Ja’von Franklin made his first start since Dec. 10 and notched his third double-double of the season (12 points, 12 rebounds).
Displaying his varied skills, Franklin added three assists and blocked four shots while not committing a turnover in 44:57. He sat only for Notre Dame’s final possession of the first half.
Miles Kelly has reached double figures in points in 11 straight games, leading the Yellow Jackets in the scoring column in six of those. Kelly has averaged 15.9 points and 3.6 rebounds over that stretch. He has connected on 58-of-131 shots from the floor (44.3 pct.), 34-of-76 from three-point range (44.7 pct.) and 25-of-26 from the foul line across those eight games.
Kelly is averaging a team-high 16.5 points, has hit 43.8 percent of his threes and all 16 of his free throw attempts over six ACC games.
Kelly has hit his last 23 free throw attempts dating back to the Iowa game on Nov. 28, when he made the second of his two attempts. He was 7-for-7 against Miami and is 16-for-16 over Tech’s last five games.