Sloppy first half dooms Yellow Jackets in loss to Miami

Georgia Tech shoots 33% in first half of 91-81 loss.

Georgia Tech head coach Damon Stoudamire walks off of the court after their loss against Syracuse in a NCAA men’s basketball game at McCamish Pavilion, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)

By AJC Sports

10 hours ago

A combination of poor shooting and sloppy protection of the ball in the first half proved to be too much for Georgia Tech to overcome Saturday.

Tre Donaldson scored a career-high 27 points and had 10 assists, leading Miami to a 91-81 victory over Georgia Tech for the Hurricanes’ eighth consecutive win.

The Yellow Jackets trailed 47-33 at the half, thanks to just 33% shooting from the field — they made just nine field goals in the first half — and twice as many turnovers (12) as assists (6).

While Georgia Tech was much better offensively in the second half, shooting 56.7% from the field and only turning it over twice, the damage of the first half was too much to overcome.

Donaldson, a transfer from Michigan who also played at Auburn, scored seven straight Miami points down the stretch. He made two free throws with 2:35 remaining and followed that up with a jumper and a wide-open 3-pointer, giving Miami an 88-79 lead with 39 seconds left.

Syracuse holds off late Georgia Tech rally

Malik Reneau scored 18 points and Shelton Henderson added 17 for Miami (14-2, 3-0). Ernest Udeh Jr. had 13 points and 15 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double.

Kowacie Reeves Jr. scored 23, Lamar Washington 21 and Baye Ndongo 16 for Georgia Tech (10-7, 1-3).

Miami scored the first seven points of the game and later led 22-8. Henderson scored 14 points in the first half and his dunk with 33 seconds left gave the Hurricanes a 47-33 lead at the half.

Both teams shot it well in the first 10 minutes after halftime. Georgia Tech hit 10 of 14 shots and Miami connected on 9 of 16, and the Hurricanes maintained a lead of 68-59. Georgia Tech got within 77-72 when Reeves hit back-to-back jumpers inside the 5-minute mark.

Timotej Malovec answered with a 3-pointer for Miami and the Hurricanes led 80-72 with just under 4 minutes remaining before Donaldson when on his seven-point run.

Miami’s only losses this season were to Florida and BYU. Both opponents were ranked in the top 10 at the time.