For all that ails Georgia Tech these days, the Yellow Jackets were just happy for a one-night reprieve from the ACC and their five-game losing streak.
Wednesday night fell well short of an all-out celebration, though, as Tech needed a late burst of energy to outlast Chattanooga 62-53 and snap its losing ways.
Glen Rice Jr. poured in 27 points, one off his career high against Miami. Iman Shumpert added his fifth double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds. The rest of the team combined for 16 points.
“We know we could have played better,” Rice said. “We made a couple simple mistakes, but a win is a win. And it feels good.”
Before the Jackets get any ideas about building momentum, No. 5 Duke awaits for a Sunday matchup at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Tech has lost 14 consecutive road games.
Even the Jackets' home games don’t feel so welcoming anymore. An announced Alexander Memorial Coliseum crowd of 5,364 was the third smallest of the year. But the arena actually looked one-quarter full.
“All we can do is what we do, practice and play,” Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. “Obviously you want people to support you, but all we can do is what we can do.”
Said Shumpert: “Just need to win games.”
Tech (11-14) managed that but only after playing much of the way down to Chattanooga’s level.
The Mocs (14-14) were within 39-37 with 9:54 left in the game, having scored each of their seven second-half field goals on lay-ups.
“They were hustling; they were getting back,” said Hewitt, when asked about Tech playing down to the less-talented team. “I won’t put it on that. I would hope we’re more mature than that at this point in the season.”
But before Chattanooga could become another Kennesaw State, the Jackets turned up the energy and went to their two-man game -- finding Shumpert and Rice for their last 23 points over the final 9:04. Rice hit a 3-pointer to make it 42-37 and Shumpert followed with a lay-up to created some distance.
“I thought Iman did a good job of bringing us home tonight, especially when they got it to 39-37,” Hewitt said. “I thought he settled us down, made some pretty good plays, made some free throws and, of course, Glen shot the ball very well.”
Rice made 8 of 10 free throws, including 7 of 8 in the final eight minutes, to keep Chattanooga from getting any closer than four points.
And Shumpert single-handedly changed the flow. He scored seven straight points after the Mocs had cut it to 48-44 with 6:38 left, including an alley-oop dunk on a feed from Mfon Udofia.
“I figured if [my teammates] saw me getting after it, making some hustle plays and getting more rebounds, then everybody would get more into it,” Shumpert said. “I felt we were flat. I was just trying to bring some energy.”
The problem early in the half was not having Shumpert on the floor. He picked up three fouls in a minute and a half -- two in the final minute of the first half and one 30 seconds into the second half. Tech managed only four points in the 5 ½ minutes Shumpert sat, and led only 32-29 when he returned.
Coming off a 102-77 loss to Virginia Tech, Tech has been fumbling through February, and for the first half, it looked like the Jackets weren’t going to find much offensive sync against a Southern Conference team either.
They needed an apparent gift from the officials, on what looked to be a traveling violation against Shumpert that went uncalled, to lead the Mocs 28-23 at halftime. Chattanooga coach John Shulman was left pointing to the spot on the floor at the elbow where Shumpert slipped before getting up a 14-foot jumper.
Rice was the best thing Tech had going, scoring 12 points in 16 minutes in the first half, including two of Tech’s three 3-pointers.
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