Some of the details were different, as was the location. But the general structure remained consistent. In Georgia Tech’s third consecutive game against a Top 25 opponent, the Yellow Jackets offered commendable defense at one end of the court and sprayed the basket with a barrage of off-target shots at the other.
Tech, perpetrators of the ACC’s least efficient offense (KenPom) – and second to last isn’t even close – pained its supporters once again, rendering a superior defensive effort moot in a 59-49 loss to No. 25 Florida State on Saturday afternoon at the Tucker Center. It was the Jackets’ third consecutive loss following defeats against No. 2 Duke and No. 9 North Carolina.
“Right now, we’re really struggling shooting,” coach Josh Pastner said. “It’s bewildering to me.”
The Jackets held FSU to 34.8 percent shooting from the field, the Seminoles’ third-lowest rate of the season. FSU’s 59 points, a total goosed by four last-minute free throws as the Jackets intentionally fouled to stop the clock, were well below its season average (77.7 points per game).
“I’ve seen a team (Tech) that holds everybody in our league to 28 percent (on) 3-point field-goal percentage defense,” said FSU coach Leonard Hamilton, whose own team was 4-for-16 from 3-point range. “That just doesn’t happen.”
However, that expert-level of defense still wasn’t enough to compensate for the Jackets’ offensive inadequacies, same as in losses to Duke and North Carolina (and, for that matter, No. 12 Virginia Tech and No. 1 Tennessee). Tech (11-11, 3-6 ACC) shot 28.3 percent from the field, its second lowest rate of the season, and turned the ball over 14 times. The Jackets failed to crack 60 for the fifth time in nine ACC games. Despite an array of open shots, they were 3-for-21 from 3-point range, dropping their season rate on 3-point shots to 29.1 percent. And this was a team that Pastner was convinced before the season would be much improved at 3-point shooting.
“I don’t know if we’re at a point where I say you’re not allowed to shoot 3-pointers,” Pastner said. “I don’t want to do that. It’s just, we’ve had some great looks.”
Guard Curtis Haywood missed all six 3-point tries for the second game in a row, mostly on attempts that were open. A 37 percent 3-point shooter as a freshman last season, Haywood is 1-for-22 in Tech’s past five games.
“I’m just in a little slump,” Haywood said. “All shooters have it. I’ve just got to shoot my way out of it and stay confident.”
The game’s final 4:23 exemplified the Jackets’ fate against FSU (16-5, 4-4). After forward Evan Cole scored on a putback to cut the lead to 55-49, Tech stopped the Seminoles on four consecutive possessions. However, Tech shot blanks four times in a row, too, before the Jackets had to start fouling. Cole’s basket proved to be Tech’s final points of the game.
“I feel like we played hard,” Haywood said. “We played well. We did what we had to execute on defense. We just missed a couple of shots and had a lot of turnovers in the first half.”
Tech’s struggles were compounded by point guard Jose Alvarado playing only 24 minutes, nine under his average, because of foul trouble.
Alvarado was called for a technical foul at the 11:17 mark of the first half after getting tangled up with Florida State’s P.J. Savoy. Along with the charging foul Alvarado committed on the play, they were Alvarado’s second and third fouls, and Pastner took him out of the game a minute later.
The score was tied at 14-14 when Alvarado left the game, and Tech pushed the lead to 19-16 before the Seminoles went on a 10-2 run, exploiting turnovers, bad shot selection and poor transition defense – potentially all areas where Alvarado could have helped. The half ended with Tech down 33-27, the Jackets’ fifth consecutive first half in which they failed to reach 30 points.
Alvarado played with his trademark toughness and turned the ball over just once but was scoreless, missing all 10 shots from the field. It was just the second game of his 46-game career in which he didn’t score, and the other was the Duke game last season in which he played 12 minutes before leaving with a season-ending elbow injury. On Saturday, he fouled out with 6:51 remaining. After missing a tough shot in the lane, he appeared to try to take a charge at midcourt but was called for a block, a high-risk play by the team’s leading scorer and most indispensable player.
“He’s got to be better for us, and I told him that after the game,” Pastner said.
Tech started the second half by scoring two points in its first nine possessions to fall behind 41-29. Pastner called it the difference in the game. The Jackets’ defense prevented the Seminoles from running away, but their offense likewise prevented a credible comeback try.
In the loss, forward Abdoulaye Gueye stood out, scoring a team-high 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting, displaying an array of post moves.The rest of the team was 11-for-53.
“I feel like we’re getting better,” said Gueye, who led Tech in scoring for the third consecutive game. “We’re going to get there. Everything’s going to pay off.”
With the season two-thirds complete, time is dwindling for that payoff to arrive this season.
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