ATLANTA – Miles Kelly knocked down a floating layup with 4.1 seconds left to break a 57-all tie, lifting Georgia Tech to a 59-57 victory over cross-town rival Georgia State Saturday night at the GSU Convocation Center.
The winning shot from Kelly, a sophomore from Stone Mountain, Ga., capped a 15-point night which included a pair of big three-point baskets in the latter part of the second half. It gave the Yellow Jackets to their first 2-0 start since the 2019-20 season, and a triumph in their first game on the Panthers’ home court since 2007.
It also staved off a third overtime game in the last three years between the two teams. Tech split the first two games, dropping a 123-120, four-overtime contest in 2020, and won 72-62 in overtime last season, both of which were played at McCamish Pavilion, the Yellow Jackets’ home arena.
Both teams played sluggishly on offense in the first half, which ended with the Panthers leading by one, 26-25, but found their footing after intermission. GSU big man Ja-Heim Hudson scored 14 of his game-high 23 points in the second period and helped the Panthers open their largest lead at 42-35 with 12:17 remaining.
Tech battled back to tie the score at 47-all on the first of Kelly’s threes at the 7:29 mark, and scored the next eight points to forge its greatest advantage at 55-47 with 2:50 remaining. Kelly nailed his second three and fellow sophomore Jalon Moore scored five points during the run.
True to form, the Panthers scored the next seven points to get within one at 55-54 with 59 seconds left. Moore made two more free throws for a 57-54 Tech lead with 36 seconds remaining, but GSU’s Brenden Tucker drove for a layup and was fouled, making the tying free throw with 26 seconds to go.
Tech played for the last shot. Kelly then brought the ball up the floor, ran the clock down under 10 seconds, then made his move against the Panthers’ Dwon Odom, getting past him on the right side of the lane and floating his bank shot off the glass for the lead. Georgia State got the ball into the front court after a timeout, but could not get off a shot as time expired.
Deebo Coleman led the Yellow Jackets with 16 points, establishing career highs at the free throw line (9-of-13), while Moore finished the game with seven points and seven rebounds.
Jamaine Mann (13 points) and Odom (10) also reached double figures for Georgia State.
Tech returns home for its next game Thursday at 8 p.m. against Northern lllinois at McCamish Pavilion. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.
Miles Kelly rises up over Dwon Odom to launch his game-winning shot. (photo by Clyde Click)
Post-Game Notes
- Tech is 2-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season, and for the third time in Josh Pastner’s seven seasons on The Flats. The Jackets have not started a season 3-0 since 2015-16.
- Tech won two of three games in this most recent three-game series against Georgia State.
- Tech improved to 2-1 in games on Georgia State’s home court, and is 1-0 in the new GSU Convocation Center.
- No Tech player logged as many as 30 minutes against Clayton State, the first time that has happened since Tech’s 87-60 win at Miami on Feb. 20, 2021.
- Sophomore Deebo Coleman led the Yellow Jackets in scoring for the second time in his career with his 16 points against the Panthers. Coleman scored 19 to pace Tech in its win over Lamar in the third game of last season.
- Coleman established career highs for both free throws made (9) and attempts (13) against Georgia State. His five rebounds matched a career high.
- Coleman logged a career-high 36:59 on the court against Georgia State, surpassing his previous best of 34:46 last season against Clemson.
- Sophomore Miles Kelly reached double figures for the fifth time in his career and in his fourth straight game dating back to last season’s regular-season finale against Boston College.
- Kelly has hit 22-of-47 (46.8 pct.) from three-point range over Tech’s last 13 games dating back to Jan. 23 vs. Clayton State. He was 5-for-30 over the Jackets’ first 17 games of last season.
- Sophomore Jalon Moore’s seven rebounds were a career-high.
- Senior Kyle Sturdivant made his 33rd career start in a Georgia Tech uniform against Georgia State, most among the current Yellow Jackets, while senior center Rodney Howard started for the 26th
Deebo Coleman led the Yellow Jackets Saturday night with 16 points. (photo by Clyde Click)
Post-game press conference at Georgia State with Deebo Coleman, Miles Kelly and head coach Josh Pastner
