Defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion Georgia Tech continues to bleed out in conference play.
The Yellow Jackets (7-9, 1-5 ACC) sit dead last in the ACC after yet another blowout loss, most recently an 88-65 drubbing at North Carolina on Saturday. They will look to right the ship when they return home to face Wake Forest (14-4, 4-3) on Wednesday night in Atlanta.
The Yellow Jackets’ latest loss was never in doubt. They fell behind 42-24 late in the first half and never mounted a rally. Jordan Usher and Deivon Smith scored 22 and 16 points, respectively, but no other Georgia Tech player scored more than six points.
“You’ve got to give North Carolina credit,” Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner said. “When we’re small, if we’re not making 3s, it becomes hard. Offensively, we just struggled; we shot 3 of 14 from 3-point range. Twenty-one percent is not going to get it done, not against a team like North Carolina.”
Wake Forest will continue on to Atlanta after a 63-55 win at Virginia, arguably its best victory of the season, powered by a 13-0 run that began with about eight minutes left in the game.
Four Demon Deacons players scored in double figures, and the defense forced 11 turnovers.
“We’ve used this term a lot since I’ve come on board, but this probably has to be the most grittiest, grimiest, toughest win that we’ve had in my tenure,” Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes said. “It was a back-and-forth affair, a very physical affair. I thought our guys handled that well.”
This will be the only meeting between the two teams this season. They played twice a season ago, and Georgia Tech won them both: 70-54 in Atlanta and 75-63 in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Wake Forest’s last win over Georgia Tech was on Feb. 14, 2018.
–Field Level Media
