Kameron McGusty — with his friend Trae Young in attendance — scored 20 points to lead Miami to a 73-62 victory over Georgia Tech in an Atlantic Coast Conference game Saturday afternoon in Atlanta.
Young, the Atlanta Hawks superstar, was McGusty’s teammate with the Oklahoma Sooners in 2017-18.
The Hurricanes also got 12 points and a game-high four steals from Charlie Moore, who fouled out with 3:14 left. Jordan Miller added 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Miami (16-5, 8-2 ACC) has won 12 of its past 14 games and sits atop the conference standings.
The Hurricanes, who improved 5-1 on the road, won the game at the foul line. Miami made 21 of 25 free throws, compared to the Yellow Jackets’ 3-of-10 effort.
Georgia Tech (9-11, 2-7) was led by Khalid Moore (19 points), Jordan Usher (15 points) Michael Devoe (12 points).
Devoe, who entered the game ranked second in the ACC in scoring (19.2), did not have his best game. He made just 4 of 11 shots and had three turnovers as the Jackets fell to 7-8 at home.
This was Miami’s first win at Georgia Tech since 2016. Miami had lost three straight games in the series overall.
Saturday was different, however, and that was evident quickly. On the first play of the game, Devoe stole the ball at half-court but he missed a layup, all alone.
That would be a first-half theme as Georgia Tech missed a half-dozen layups. The Yellow Jackets led for just 27 seconds in the game, at 13-12.
Otherwise, Miami dominated, taking a 36-28 lead at the break on McGusty’s 3-pointer in the final seconds.
In the second half, Miami extended its lead to 45-30 with 15:36 left. That’s when Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner, unhappy with the officiating, was hit with a technical foul. McGusty made two technical free throws to extend the lead to 17 points.
Miami stretched its lead to 19, but Tech cut it to six on a Moore dunk with 3:53 left. But after a timeout, Miami ran a back-door play that freed McGusty for a layup, and the Canes held on from there.
The Hurricanes won the rebound battle 38-31. It was the first time in 11 games this season against Power 5 schools that they accomplished that feat.
–Field Level Media
