Two nights after perhaps the worst loss in coach Josh Pastner’s three-season tenure at Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets responded with a win that takes its place close to the top.
After playing messily on offense for much of the game, Tech closed out Arkansas with clinical efficiency to score a 69-65 win over the Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena Wednesday night in Fayetteville, Ark. It followed the Jackets' 79-69 loss to Gardner-Webb on Monday night at McCamish Pavilion.
“We’re a young team, and to bounce back like that in that environment is very hard to do,” Pastner told the AJC by phone following the game.
Tech (6-4) won on the strength of another standout game from center James Banks, determined play from point guard Jose Alvarado, a new lineup, a shortened bench, a much better defensive performance than Monday and what looked like an off night for Arkansas (7-3).
Whatever the formula, it broke a nine-game road losing streak for the Jackets. In Pastner’s tenure, the Jackets are now 5-22 in road games. Bud Walton Arena is celebrated for its home-court advantage.
“How many times have I said it?” Pastner said. “For our program to take the next step, we have to start winning road games. (Wednesday) was a big step.”
Efficient finish
The Jackets were tested late. Tech trailed 53-52 at the six-minute mark of the second half after having surrendered an 8-2 run that gave up the lead. The Jackets had already fought back from a 43-38 deficit to go up 50-45, only to surrender the lead. The Jackets were frustrating Arkansas with their zone defense, but were also frittering away possessions with turnovers and bad shots. To that point, Tech had committed 20 turnovers in 61 possessions by not securing passes, failing to inbound the ball and rushing transition chances.
It seemed the Jackets’ failure to steward possessions might undo a golden chance at an upset. However, from that point on, Tech took care of the ball and steadily generated points. Starting with a post move by Banks for a 54-53 lead, the Jackets scored on nine of their final 10 possessions, a total of 17 points. There were no turnovers.
“It was a game of runs and we had to stay emotionally poised the entire time,” Pastner said. “We had to tough it out.”
Among the big plays: While on the floor after recovering a loose ball, Banks found guard Michael Devoe cutting to the basket. Alvarado confidently stroked a 3-pointer to put the Jackets temporarily ahead 59-57 with 3:53 to play.
Banks, Devoe and forward Khalid Moore were a combined 8-for-9 from the line in the final 1:47. In the final 20 seconds, with Tech ahead 67-62, Moore went to the floor to win a loose ball that helped secure the game.
“I thought they played desperate,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said.
Notable performers
Banks finished with 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, eight of them offensive. In a matchup with projected lottery pick Daniel Gafford, Banks was the superior player. It was his fourth double-double in the past five games.
“He played the right way and he made a big jump from Monday, which I was proud of,” Pastner said.
Alvarado knocked in 20 points on 9-for-15 shooting and also grabbed nine defensive rebounds. He played all 40 minutes against Arkansas’ pressure. Pastner admiringly wondered how many point guards had ever led their teams to victory against the Razorbacks over the years while playing all 40 minutes, guessing perhaps none.
“I thought Jose’s leadership, his quarterbacking, from the first minute of the game to the very last minute was outstanding,” Pastner said.
“I thought he showed some grit,” Anderson said. “I thought he kind of controlled the game for them. He settled them down when they got rattled, made some big plays. He’s a good player.”
New playing-time strategy
Prior to the game, Pastner decided to change his team’s playing-time approach. He put freshmen Devoe and Moore into the starting lineup for the first time in their careers and then concentrated all but six of the team’s 200 minutes of playing time to seven players. It was more typical of the way Pastner normally divides minutes.
“After Monday night, I thought I was playing too many guys, and I’ve got to let guys play through mistakes and the only way to do that, I had to shorten the bench a little bit,” Pastner said.
Inside the numbers
Tech held Arkansas to 38.1 percent shooting from the field and 31.3 percent from 3-point range. Razorbacks guard Isaiah Joe, who came into the game making 49 percent of his 3-point tries, was 3-for-12 from beyond the arc, perhaps out of rhythm against Tech’s zone.
“I thought we settled,” Anderson said.
In part because of Banks’ challenges at the rim, Arkansas scored only three second-chance points despite gathering 13 offensive rebounds. The Razorbacks were also loose with the ball, giving up 16 turnovers.
“There were turnovers that we just gave them,” Anderson said.
The Jackets, meanwhile, made 45.5 percent of their shots, although they were 5-for-17 (29.4 percent) from 3-point range. There were also the 20 turnovers. Going into Wednesday’s games, there were 185 instances this season that a team turned the ball over at least 20 times and shot under 30 percent from 3-point range, according to sports-reference.com. Those teams had won just 19 times, and seven of those wins were against non-Division I opponents.
For a team that had just lost to Gardner-Webb and had only one hour of practice time (along with a shootaround and video review sessions) to prepare for a team with NCAA tournament aspirations, it was still a win to savor. It gave more credence to Pastner’s hope that Monday’s loss was just a bad game and not anything more. Tech will play next against archrival Georgia before a sold-out crowd at McCamish.
“We had a tough loss on Monday, coming after finals, and we didn’t play well, and to come back 48 hours later and to bounce back and to get a win like this against a very good basketball team that’s well-coached and has a lot of good players is outstanding,” Pastner said. “I’m really proud of our guys to do that.”
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