On a night when its offense got out of the blocks slowly, Georgia Tech relied on its gritty defense and inside depth to win its fifth consecutive game.
The Yellow Jackets defeated Fordham 73-48 on Saturday at McCamish Pavilion to improve their record to 9-2, the team’s best start since opening the season 11-2 in 2008-09. Tech is 7-0 in its new facility.
Daniel Miller and Robert Carter Jr. each scored 12 to lead Tech. Jason Morris, who had missed the past two games with a foot injury, and Brandon Reed each scored nine points. Fordham got 17 points and five assists from Branden Frazier and 16 points and eight rebounds from Chris Gaston.
It was the third time that Miller, a 6-foot-8 junior from Loganville, has been in double figures this season. He was 6-of-8 from the floor, including two dunks, and added nine rebounds. Carter, who made seven of 12 field-goal attempts, has scored in double figures in three of his past four games and has averaged 13.7 points over that stretch.
Tech led 35-25 at halftime, but could not shake Fordham (3-10) until midway into the second half. Gaston, who had 23 points and 17 rebounds in last season’s win over Tech, shook off a four-point first half with three quick baskets, the last to cut the lead to 41-35.
That’s when the Tech offense finally started to click. Led by Miller and Carter, the Jackets outscored Fordham 21-2, including a 17-0 streak, to put the game away. The run included six inside baskets, three by Miller, two by Carter and one by Kammeon Holsey. Seven players scored during the streak.
Tech wound up scoring 40 points in the paint and shot 55.2 percent (16-for-29) in the second half. The Jackets limited Fordham to 21 percent from the field (16-for-47) for the game, and their reserves outscored the Rams 26-1.
Tech didn’t score its first points until Marcus Georges-Hunt made the second of two free throws with 17:12 left in the first half. The Jackets had missed their first four shots and watched as Fordham aggressively outrebounded them to start the game. But Fordham made only two of its first 14 shots and let Tech stay close.
Tech eventually seized the momentum by pounding the ball inside. Carter made a pair of baskets inside the paint, and Miller dropped in a sky hook that made the score 13-8. But Fordham hung around thanks to the outside shooting of Frazier, who scored three 3-point baskets in a three-minute stretch to give the Rams a 14-13 lead.
Losing the lead seemed to motivate the Jackets, who went on a 21-9 run that was sparked by Reed and Miller and punctuated by a 3-pointer by Morris that gave them a 34-23 lead. Tech wound up shooting 44.8 percent for the half, while limiting Fordham to 28.8 percent.
The Jackets play one more non-conference game, against Chattanooga on Jan. 2, before hosting Miami in their ACC opener Jan. 5.
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