THE FLATS – Georgia Tech men’s basketball closed the first half with a 23-8 run and never looked back on its way to an 83-67 win over Louisville on Saturday afternoon at McCamish Pavilion. With its eighth-straight Senior Day victory, Tech closed the home portion of its 2022-23 schedule with four-consecutive wins at the Thrillerdome.
Georgia Tech trailed 24-22 with under eight minutes to go in the opening half, but its 23-8 spurt over the final 7:31 of the period gave the Yellow Jackets a commanding 45-32 lead at the break. The 13-point halftime advantage was Tech’s largest in an ACC game this season.
Louisville cut the Jackets’ lead to five points at 66-61 with just under five minutes to play, but after a timeout, Tech responded with an old-fashioned 3-point play by Kyle Sturdivant (Norcross, Ga./Norcross H.S.), a huge blocked shot by Jalon Moore (Birmingham, Ala./Gardendale H.S.) and a second-chance bucket by Moore on the other end that extended the Jackets’ lead back to 10 at 71-61 with under four minutes to go. The Cardinals never got closer than seven the rest of the way.
Playing his final home game in the White and Gold, Ja’von Franklin (Little Rock, Ark./Parkview Magnet H.S.) led the way for Georgia Tech with a 21 points (on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 7-of-10 from the free-throw line) and 13 rebounds (including five on the offensive glass). The double-double was Franklin’s fourth in the last seven games and seventh of the season.
Sturdivant also recorded a double-double for Georgia Tech with 11 points and 10 assists. It was the first points-assists double-double by a Yellow Jacket since Josh Heath versus NC State in 2017.
Miles Kelly (Stone Mountain, Ga./Parkview H.S.) and Lance Terry (College Park, Ga./The Heritage School) rounded out four Jackets in double-figures with 19 and 17 points, respectively.
As a team, Georgia Tech shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56) from the field, including 41.4 percent (12-of-29) from 3-point range. The 48.2 percent field-goal percentage was the Yellow Jackets’ highest of the season in an ACC game and third-highest of the season overall. After not shooting 40 percent in 5-of-6 games from Jan. 14-Feb. 1, Tech has made at least 40 percent of its shots in seven-straight contests.
Tech opens the final week of the regular season on Tuesday when it visits Syracuse. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised regionally on the ACC’s Regional Sports Network (Bally Sports South in Georgia).
Ja’Von Franklin lays in two of his game-high 21 points in Saturday’s win over Louisville. (photo by Danny Karnik)
Post-Game Notes
TEAM TRENDS
- Georgia Tech has won its last eight Senior Day games. The Jackets’ last Senior Day loss came in the final home game of the 2014-15 season to Louisville, 52-51.
- Tech finished its 2022-23 home schedule with four straight wins.
- Tech’s 83 points scored and 16-point victory margin were its best against an ACC team this season. The Yellow Jackets have scored more against only two teams this season (93 vs. Clayton State, 96 vs. Alabama State).
- Tech’s 45-32 halftime lead was its largest in an ACC game this season, and its 45 points also were the most in an ACC game this season.
- Tech has scored 70 points or more in five of its last six games (Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Florida Tech, Louisville). The Yellow Jackets are 10-2 this season when scoring 70 or more points (4-2 in the ACC), 2-15 when failing to reach 70.
- Tech has exceeded 100 points per 100 possessions (KenPom offensive efficiency rating) in each of its last six games, the Yellow Jackets’ longest such streak this season. Tech’s 121.9 rating against Louisville was a season high against an ACC opponent.
- Tech has outshot six of its last seven opponents from the floor, holding them collectively to 41.9 percent overall, 28.6 percent from three-point range. The Yellow Jackets are 11-2 this season when they have a higher field goal percentage.
- Four Tech players (Ja’von Franklin 15.0, Miles Kelly 14.3, Lance Terry 10.4 ppg, Kyle Sturdivant (10.7) are averaging double digits in points over the Yellow Jackets’ last seven games, and a fifth (Deebo Coleman) is averaging 9.4.
PLAYER UPDATES
- Lance Terry has played the full 40 minutes in each of Tech’s four ACC wins, the only games this season in which he has played 40 minutes. In those four games, Terry has averaged 18.5 points while connecting on 49.1 percent of his field goals, 48.1 percent of his three-point attempts (13-of-27).
- Ja’von Franklin has averaged a double-double over the Yellow Jackets’ last seven games (15.0 points and 11.0 rebounds). He has hit 61.4 percent of his shots from the floor (43-of-70) in that span, and also has totaled 23 assists, plus team highs in blocked shots (15) and steals (11).
- Miles Kelly has reached double figures in four straight games, averaging 17.5 points and hitting 24-of-50 from the floor (48 pct.) and 16-of-36 from three-point range (44.4 pct.). This comes after a stretch in which he scored in double digits just three times in nine games and averaged 9.8 points.
- Kyle Sturdivant had 11 points and 10 assists against Louisville, posting Tech’s first point-assist double-double since Josh Heath against NC State on Jan. 15, 2017.
- Sturdivant has averaged 11.5 points over his last eight games, having reached double figures in six of them. He has made 15-of-38 from three-point range (39.4 pct.) over that stretch.
Senior Coleman Boyd brought the McCamish Pavilion crowd to its feet with his drive and assist in the final seconds of the Yellow Jackets’ Senior Day win over Louisville. (photo by Danny Karnik)
Game Highlights
