Jackets blown out by Duke 86-43

Georgia Tech Men's Basketball falls to 8-13 and 1-10 in ACC play

Matthew Kistner | Jan 28, 2023

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Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Fans packed into McCamish Pavilion on Saturday afternoon for what they hoped would be an exciting turn of events for the Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball team this season. In the end, most fans left early as Duke dismantled Tech, doubling the Yellow Jackets final score as the game came to a close at 86-43.

The scoring started early and often for Duke as right from the tipoff, the Blue Devils nailed a three point basket. Rodney Howard then got the afternoon started for Tech with a rebound and lay-in play. Duke quickly established a cushion that would never disappear, going up 8-2. Senior guard Kyle Sturdivant, playing in his 100th collegiate game, found himself entering the stat line early as he came off the bench to knock down a jumper to spark a bit of energy and make it 8-4. Sophomore guard Deebo Coleman continued the party, hitting his first and only three pointer of the game to pull Tech closer as the board displayed 10-7 Duke. However, what became consistent was a Duke response to any Tech score as Duke made two threes in response to Coleman’s one, pulling the game to 16-7.

Georgia Tech was unable to get anything going, falling to Duke 86-43 on Saturday. — Georgia Tech was unable to get anything going, falling to Duke 86-43 on Saturday / Georgia Tech Athletics

Duke was turnover prone early, but Tech just could not take advantage of the possessions that were being handed to them. The Jackets were shooting 29% from the floor early and it allowed Duke to expand on the lead. The team fell behind by as much as 13 with the game at 29-16. However, sophomore guard Miles Kelly and junior guard Deivon Smith led Tech on a 7-1 run to pull it to 30-23. This was the closest Tech would ever get to the Blue Devils from here on as Duke went on a 13-2 responsive run to end the half, making it 43-25 in favor of Duke going into the locker room.

As the buzzer sounded for half, it was clear the Jackets were outmatched as they were not taking advantage of any possessions that would allow the lead to shrink and everytime Tech would make a cut into the lead, Duke would turn around and respond with two three point baskets right away. It would take a lot of momentum and skill to come back in the game, but the Jackets just did not have it on Saturday.

Duke came out of the locker room and went on a 19-3 run, opening the game up to 62-28. The Yellow Jackets only scored 3 points in the first seven and a half minutes of the second half. The performance did not get much better from there as the team had no highlights in the second half. Duke kept doing what they were doing and after being outscored 43-18 in the second half, the Jackets lost 86-43.

Senior Guard Kyle Sturdivant played his 100th collegiate career basketball game. — Senior Guard Kyle Sturdivant played his 100th collegiate career basketball game / Georgia Tech Athletics

This was a humiliating loss for the program that will likely deter fans from coming to games the rest of the season. There are no excuses for a Division I team in a power five conference to lose like this to an unranked opponent. There are no positives to take away from this game as it was emphatic and it was ugly from the moment it started. This loss marks seven straight losses for the team with the last win being against then 12th ranked Miami; the only ACC win for the team this year and the only win in the last 10 games.

The Jackets have a chance to either recover or fall into a bigger downward spiral as they travel to take on 2-19 Louisville, who is sitting at the bottom of the conference, on Wednesday, February 1st at 7:00 PM.

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