Georgia Tech Loses on the Road Against Louisville and Falls to Last Place in the ACC

Georgia Tech is back in action on Wednesday vs Notre Dame

After a rough performance against Wake Forest on Tuesday night, Georgia Tech needed to bounce back and get a win on the road against last-place Louisville. 

This game was not on many people's radar, but it was an important game for the Yellow Jackets. If they could find a way to win tonight's game and the next game vs Notre Dame, there is a good chance that Georgia Tech would avoid last place in the ACC Standings. Losing this game and the next, Damon Stoudamire's team would likely find themselves where no ACC program wants to be and that is last place. 

After the embarrassing performance against Wake Forest, Stoudamire was honest about what he was looking for out of his team in this game against Louisville: 

"You know this is probably not what you want to hear, but I am not really concerned with Louisville, not from the standpoint of basketball but I am concerned about myself and my own team so that is what we have to do. We have to lose ourselves in what Georgia Tech basketball is and what I want it to be and the standard that has to be set and right now, I just don't think we are in the space to be worrying about a scouting report of another team.

You know, we have to spring back in transition harder, we have to dive for loose balls, we have to rebound with two hands, we have to get in our defensive stance, we have to fill gaps, we gotta run three-point shooters off the line, we gotta slide with them and we gotta have somebody sink and fill.

So to be honest with you, (Louisville head coach) Kenny Payne is a good friend of mine and I respect him and I have watched Louisville but I am really more concerned with our effort and how we come out the gate. The game can't get strategic until we play hard. There is no need to emphasize the different things that Louisville might pose in terms of challenges because if we rebound the ball, which we have to do, again if we get back in transition, which we need to better and if we understand the scouting report and the personnel that we are guarding, we will put ourselves in a position to have a chance to win."

Georgia Tech Softball Loses 5-1 To No. 11 Alabama, Dropping Them To a 1-3 Start

Yet here we are after another poor performance from the Yellow Jackets. 

Georgia Tech now occupies last place in the ACC after losing to Louisville and Notre Dame's win today. After an 8-3 start and a win over Duke, this program has gone 2-11 and has been trending in the wrong direction since their stunning win over No. 3 North Carolina. 

Let's recap another tough night for Georgia Tech. 

Georgia Tech head coach Damon Stoudamire / Georgia Tech Athletics

Ebenezer Dowuona and Deebo Coleman were out today for Georgia Tech so they were going to have to get a road win without both players. 

Nait George, Miles Kelly, Kowacie Reeves, Tafara Gapare, and Baye Ndongo were the starters tonight for Georgia Tech. 

Early in the first half, Georgia Tech continued to have scoring problems. It did not reach the bad levels of the first half of the Wake Forest game, but the lid was on the basket for the Yellow Jackets. 

Fortunately for Georiga Tech, Louisville was having a hard time scoring as well. 

At the 11:35 timeout, Georgia Tech led 9-7 and the Cardinals were 1 for their last seven. After the timeout though, Louisville proceeded to go on their biggest run of the first half to grab the lead. 

A 10-0 run from Louisville gave them a 17-11 lead, but Miles Kelly ended the run with a three-pointer and made it 17-14. 

This was the best half of basketball from Kelly in some time. He was single-handedly keeping Georgia Tech in the basketball game and without his big scoring output in the first half, Louisville likely would have been up big. 

The two teams would go back-and-forth for the rest of the half and the result was Georgia Tech leading 32-30. 

Neither team shot particularly well in the first half, but Georgia Tech was decidedly better from three. Georgia Tech shot 34% from the floor and 44% from three in the first half. Kelly had 21 of those 32 points and shot 7-12 from the floor and 4-7 from three, while also grabbing five rebounds. 

Louisville shot 32% from the field in the first half and 10% from three. They were 11-12 from the free-throw line. 

The second half would begin with both teams going back and forth. 

Georgia Tech was still shooting far better from three-point range, but the free-throw line advantage that Louisville held was keeping them in the game. After finishing the first half playing very well, Miles Kelly had a tough time getting it going early on in the second half. With 12:42 left, Georgia Tech led 45-43. 

Things were starting to trend in the right way for Georgia Tech about midway through the second half and it even looked like they might be pulling away. With 7:47 left in the game, the Yellow Jackets led 60-53. 

Then the Cardinals went on a massive run. Much like the game against NC State last Saturday, Georgia Tech had a good lead and let it slip away due to a big run from the other team. 

A 9-2 run from Louisville tied it up 62-62 and that run would turn into a larger 18-2 run that sealed the deal. After leading by seven points with 7:47,  Georgia Tech would lose by 12 points, 79-67. The Cardinals held a massive free throw advantage and the Yellow Jackets offense could not buy a bucket down the stretch which resulted in a double-digit loss, despite Miles Kelly having one of the best games of his career. Overall, it was a 28-7 run for Louisville after Georgia Tech took a 60-61 lead. 

For the game, Georgia Tech shot 35% from the field and 36% from three. They were 14-18 from the free-throw line and also turned the ball over 15 times. Kelly finished with 36 points on 11-20 shooting. 

It is hard to fathom but Nait George and Baye Ndongo combined for four points on a combined 2-12 night from the field. They have both been terrific as freshmen, but tonight was not their night. 

Louisville shot 39% from the field and 22% from three. They were an astounding 31-34 from the free-throw line and committed 12 turnovers. They scored 20 points off of 15 Georgia Tech turnovers. 

This second half to me was a worse version of what happened against NC State meaning that turnovers led to a big second-half run from Louisville. On top of that, the Cardinals had a massive advantage in free throw makes and attempts. I will say that some of the calls in the second half were not good, but Georgia Tech did not lose this game because of poor officiating. Poor performances from everyone around Kelly, turnovers, and a poor finish to the game is what lost them this game. 

There is no sugarcoating how disappointing of a loss this is after the way they finished the first half and started the second half. Big runs to end games have become too common under Stoudamire and he has to find a way to address it. This team is on a freefall currently and I can't say where the bottom might be. 

But they are getting closer to reaching it. 

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