THE FLATS – Jalon Moore poured in a career-high 17 points, but Georgia Tech men’s basketball could not overcome a cold-shooting night as a team and fell to NC State, 78-66, on Tuesday evening at McCamish Pavilion.
Georgia Tech shot just 39.4 percent from the field (28-of-71), and made just 2-of-21 shots from 3-point range (9.5%) in the loss. After making at least 40 percent of its field goals in nine-straight games since the beginning of December, the Yellow Jackets have come in below the 40 percent plateau in their last two games. Tech’s 9.5-percent shooting from 3-point range was a season low by far (previous: 21.7% – Nov. 21 vs. Utah and Dec. 21 vs. Clemson).
Tech (8-10, 1-7 ACC) made nine of its first 11 shots of the game to jump out to an early 18-8 lead. However, the hot shooting was short-lived, as the Yellow Jackets made just seven of their final 25 shots of the opening half and trailed 42-37 at the half. The Jackets went on a handful of mini-runs after the break, but were never able to pull closer than three the rest of the way.
Moore’s career-best 17 points came on 8-of-14 shooting, while the rest of the team made just 20-of-57 shots combined (35 percent). He also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Rodney Howard chipped in with nine points, seven rebounds and a game-high-tying five assists for the Yellow Jackets.
Terquavion Smith led NC State (15-4, 5-3 ACC) with 25 points.
Georgia Tech returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Syracuse at McCamish Pavilion. Tipoff is set for noon, and the game will be televised over the ACC’s Regional Sports Network (Bally Sports South in Georgia).
Jalon Moore hit 8-of-14 shots from the floor to post a career-high 17 points. (photo by Danny Karnik)
Post-Game Notes
TEAM TRENDS
- Georgia Tech utilized its eight different starting lineup this season. Nine Yellow Jackets have started at least two games this season, and none have started all 18 games.
- Nine or more Yellow Jackets have taken the court in 14 of 18 games. Tech ranks No. 138 in the nation this season in bench minutes (32.5 pct. entering the game), and only one other Josh Pastner Tech team has seen its reserves play more.
- Tech made a season-low two three-point field goals, and its 2-for-21 percentage (.095) was a low for the Jackets under Josh Pastner. The Jackets had averaged more than nine made threes over its previous five games (45-for-120, 37.5 pct.) and was hitting 32.1 percent in ACC play.
- Tech has averaged 23.8 three-point attempts in ACC games, trying at least 20 in every game except Virginia (16).
- Tech has failed to shoot 40 percent from the floor in two straight games, the first time that has happened since November when the Jackets shot under 40 percent against Northern Illinois, Utah and Marquette in succession.
- Tech is 1-10 this season when the opponent makes a higher percentage of its field goal attempts, 7-0 when it has a better percentage.
- Tech is 6-1 this season when scoring 70 or more points (1-0 in the ACC), 2-9 when failing to reach 70.
- Tech’s bench has outscored that of its opponent 12 times in 18 games this season, getting 18 points from its reserves to NC State’s 10. The Jackets entered this week’s games No. 1 in the ACC in bench scoring (23.2 ppg).
- Tech has turned the ball over just 10 times in each of its last two games after averaging more than 16 in the four games prior. Tech’s turnover rate is 11.4 per game this season.
- Tech ranks No. 2 in the ACC and in the top 20 in the nation in three-point defense (28.7 pct.) – NC State hit 7-of-21 (33.3 pct.) against the Jackets. Notre Dame, Virginia, FSU and NC State combined to hit 36-of-92 (39.1 pct.) against the Jackets, while North Carolina, Clemson, Miami and Pitt were 19-for-83 combined (22.8 pct.).
PLAYER UPDATES
- Jalon Moore set a career high with 17 points against NC State, hitting 8-of-14 shots from the floor, also career highs. His previous best was a 16-point effort against Northeastern in which he went 10-for-10 from the foul line.
- Moore posted his first game with double-digit points since scoring 10 against Miami on Jan. 4, and his 10th double-digit game of the season.
- Rodney Howard had a career-high five assists (previous – 4 vs. Georgia Nov. 19, 2021) to go with nine points and seven rebounds against the Wolfpack.
- Howard has connected on 34-of-53 shots from the floor (64.2 pct.) dating back to Nov. 23 vs. Marquette, covering 13 games. That includes a streak of 13 consecutive makes from his last two attempts of the Northeastern game through his first four of the Alabama State game. For the season he has connected on 59.2 percent of his field goal tries, 55.9 percent in ACC games.
- Miles Kelly has failed to reach double digits in two straight games after scoring 10 or more in 11 consecutive games, a stretch in which he averaged 16.5 points per game.
- Kelly also snapped a personal streak of 11 straight games with two or more three-point field goals. He went 0-for-6 against NC State and saw his season percentage in ACC games dip to 39 percent.
- Tech’s sophomore trio of Deebo Coleman, Miles Kelly and Jalon Moore rank 1-2-3 on the Yellow Jackets’ scoring chart. They have accounted for 45.5 percent of the team’s total points this season and have taken 42.9 percent of the shots from the floor.
- Tech’s starting guard trio of Kelly, Coleman and Lance Terry have taken more than two-thirds (67.3 pct.) of the Yellow Jackets’ three-point attempts and collectively have made 34.6 percent of them.
Rodney Howard added nine points and seven rebounds for the Yellow Jackets. (photo by Danny Karnik)
