Athens, Ga. – Miles Kelly and Kowacie Reeves, Jr., each scored 12 points to lead Georgia Tech, but the Yellow Jackets had trouble finding the basket and shot a season-low 32 percent, falling to Georgia by a score of 76-62 Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum.
The loss ended a two-game winning streak for the upstart Jackets (4-3), who had defeated top-25 foes Mississippi State and Duke last week. The Bulldogs won their fourth straight game and improved to 6-3, and snapped a two-game skid in the series with Tech in the teams’ 199th all-time meeting.
Reeves scored Tech’s first two baskets on a layup and a three-pointer, while Kelly drained a three and freshman Baye Ndongo scored on a layup as the teams went back and fourth over the first eight minutes with Georgia holding a 12-10 edge.
But the Jackets went cold at that point, missing their next 10 shots from the floor while the Bulldogs scored nine straight points to take a 21-10 lead with 6:01 left in the first half. Tech trimmed the margin to nine on each of its next two possessions, but when Georgia freshman Blue Cain drained the second of his four three-pointers in the game to get the Bulldogs back up 26-14, Tech never got closer than 10 points the rest of the game. The ‘Dogs led by as many as 23 points in the second half.
Tech connected on just 26.5 percent of its shots from the floor in the first half, improved to 36.2 percent in the second half, but suffered from a large number of missed shots from close range, including 15 layups.
Georgia didn’t fare much better, hitting 40 percent from the floor, but hit two more threes and eight more free throws. Noah Thomasson led four Bulldogs in double digits with 16 points.
The Yellow Jackets return to action Saturday at 4 p.m. against Alabama A&M at McCamish Pavilion. The game will be televised nationally on the ACC Network.
Miles Kelly led the Jackets with 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists. (photo by Danny Karnik)
Post-Game Notes
TEAM TRENDS
- Tech shot a season-low 32 percent from the floor, one game after posting a season-best 50.9 percent against Duke. The Jackets’ previous low was 34.4 percent in a win over No. 25 Mississippi State last week.
- Tech’s six free throws and 13 attempts also were season lows.
- Tech had 15 assists on 24 made field goals and has assisted on 51.1 percent of hits made shots this season.
- Tech committed just eight turnovers, the second time in seven games the Jackets have had fewer than 10. The Jackets are averaging 11.7 this season.
- Tech remains one of the nation’s better offensive rebounding teams this season, grabbing 17 against Georgia and averaging 13.8 per game.
- Georgia hit 30.3 percent of its threes (10-of-33), only the second team to make 30 percent or more of its long range shots this season against the Jackets, who have permitted teams to make just 28.5 percent.
- Tech has played its first six games without its full roster complement due to injuries. Senior guard Lance Terry, Tech’s No. 2 scorer last year, has not yet played this season.
- At least nine players have seen the court in each of Tech’s five games (10 vs. Howard, Mississippi State and Duke, 11 vs. Georgia, 12 vs. Cincinnati). Eleven players average 11 or more minutes per game.
PLAYER NOTES
- Miles Kelly extended his streak of double-digit scoring games to 15 after tallying 12 points against Georgia. He has averaged 18.9 points per game over that stretch.
- Kelly grabbed seven rebounds against Georgia and averages 6.7 this season. He has 16 offensive rebounds this season, six more than he had all of last season.
- Kelly has hit 20-of-23 from the charity stripe in Tech’s last four games after going 12-of-21 in the first three games. He is now at 71.1 percent for the season after setting a Tech record by making 89.8 percent a year ago.
- Freshman forward Baye Ndongo had hit first double-digit rebound game as a Yellow Jacket with 11 to go with his eight points, three blocked shots, three steals and three assists. Ndongo is Tech’s leading rebounder (7.5 per game) and shot blocker (2.8) this season having played just four games.
- Kowacie Reeves, Jr., has scored in double digits in five of Tech’s seven games, including 12 vs. Georgia, and has hit 47.4 percent of his shots from the floor (5-10 vs. Georgia) and 40.7 from three-point range (2-5 vs. Georgia).
- Deebo Coleman had his sixth turnover-free game this season against Georgia. He has committed just one in 176 minutes of action across seven games.
- Freshman Naithan George has started Tech’s last three games at the point guard position and has averaged 6.5 points and 2.8 assists in the four games he has played.
Freshman Baye Ndongo scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds. (photo by Danny Karnik)
