Virginia Tech trimmed Georgia Tech’s lead to one point with 4:38 remaining but couldn’t get over the final hump. Instead, it gave the ball away on five of its final nine possessions as the Yellow Jackets won 71-64 in Atlanta.
“First half was not nearly good enough,” Hokies head coach Mike Young said afterward on the Virginia Tech Sports Network. “Smart teams, good teams don’t do dumb things, and I’ve got to do a better job of coaching. You can’t give up two offensive rebounds on a free throw box out. You can’t violate the lane on a foul shot. You can’t foul a 3-point shooter. Those are plays that bite you. …
“We have some turnovers at the most inopportune times and again, I’ve got to do a better job with it, I’ve got to put them in better spots.”
The Hokies (8-11, 3-5 ACC) trailed by as many as nine points in the first half before they pulled in front via a 14-4 run at the 6:32 mark. The Yellow Jackets (9-11, 3-6) led 39-35 at halftime, but the sides exchanged the lead four times after the break.
A series of small errors from VT swung the pendulum GT’s way in the second half.
Up 45-43 with 14:16 to play, Hokies center Patrick Wessler fouled Yellow Jackets forward Ibrahim Souare, who made the first free throw. Wessler committed a lane violation on the second attempt, and on the redo, Souare missed but Duncan Powell grabbed the offensive board.
He was fouled by Ben Burnham before making his second shot to knot things at 45. Virginia Tech then rushed down the floor and Jaydon Young hoisted a 3-pointer, which didn’t fall, and Georgia Tech responded with a fast-break layup from Powell, who had a game-high (and career-high) 23 points.
Rodney Brown Jr. answered with an awkward jumper from the free throw line in transition to tie it at 47, but a Baye Ndongo layup gave the Yellow Jackets control for the remainder of the contest.
Despite that, the Hokies were never out of it. In the final 10 minutes, they cut it to a one-possession game on four occasions. The third instance one was off a trey from Jaden Schutt that pulled them within 61-60 with 4:38 left.
However, turnovers doomed them. They had miscues on the next two possessions — both from Tobi Lawal — and entered the final media timeout down four. After a Brandon Rechsteiner jumper made it a two-point margin with 2:25 on the clock, Georgia Tech gave the ball right back.
Yet, Rechsteiner’s pass to Lawal on the wing was broken up by Ndongo and taken the other way on a play that iced the game. Rechsteiner lost it on the baseline on the following possession, and a contested bucket from Javian McCollum with 51 ticks left was the dagger.
It was a disappointing result for the Hokies against a Yellow Jackets squad that is banged up and only had six guys play double-digit minutes. Powell carried a ton of weight, though, and he got GT going early from behind the arc by drilling two treys on the team’s second and third possessions. That came after McCollum knocked down one to open the scoring.
“He started off like a house of fire,” Young said of Powell. “I thought we were there on the catch. Shot contestment, shot pressure was not nearly adequate enough.”
Georgia Tech overcame the injuries and had four players in double figures, led by Powell’s 23. McCollum had 16 while Ndongo was well-rounded with 14 points, nine rebounds, five steals, four assists and a block. Naithan George also chipped in 11 points, seven assists and four boards.
The Yellow Jackets lit it up in the first half at a 54 percent clip (15-of-28), which included five treys on 10 looks, but they still held on despite regressing to 39 percent (9-of-23) in the second and only making one triple. It helped that they attempted 20 free throws after halftime and made 13. Meanwhile, the Hokies only took 10 for the game.
GT also dished out 18 assists on 24 made field goals. VT nearly matched that in the turnover department (17) and had just 13 assists.
“I wake up almost every night with that very thought, ‘What in the world?’” Young said about the Hokies’ turnover issues. “We’re doing everything we can to kind of make it easier for them. We’re doing everything possible.”
Freshman forward Tyler Johnson led the way for the Hokies with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, which included 2-of-4 from behind the arc. After starting the year 0-of-8 from distance, he’s 7-of-14, including 3-of-7 in the last three games.
Lawal was also in double figures with 13 points and six rebounds. Brown Jr. joined him with 10 points and five boards.
The only other player that shot over 50 percent alongside Johnson was Rechsteiner, who was 3-of-6. While he made a few important shots and posted seven points and a season-high six assists, he also led the team with five giveaways.
Mylyjael Poteat finished with eight points, five boards and a career-high three steals. Schutt hit two triples and corralled four rebounds. In his second game back from injury, freshman point guard Ben Hammond was just 1-of-6 with two points.
Surprisingly, Burnham only played eight minutes, including just two in the second half. He hauled in two boards but did not score. Young and Wessler rounded out the rest of the squad with four points and seven rebounds.
Another interesting stat: Virginia Tech shot better on threes (11-of-26, 42%) than on twos (11-of-33, 33%). It also outrebounded Georgia Tech 39-29, which included 14 offensive boards, but it only had eight second-chance points. It missed a number of opportunities at the rim.
The Hokies return to the floor on Saturday to face Clemson (14-4, 6-1 ACC) in Cassell Coliseum at 5 p.m. ET (ACC Network).
Box Score: Georgia Tech 71, Virginia Tech 64
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