Georgia Tech didn’t score many style points, but accumulated just enough of the standard kind to save senior night.
On a night when the offense was clunky, the Yellow Jackets rode a late surge to defeat Pittsburgh 61-52 Tuesday night at McCamish Pavilion.
Tech scored on nine of its final 10 possessions, not including the last to run out the clock, to pull away from the Panthers. The 61-point total was its lowest in an ACC victory this season.
The win gave Georgia Tech (17-13 overall, 8-9 ACC) a small boost to its NCAA tournament hopes. Its game at Syracuse Saturday to close the regular-season may be critical. Pittsburgh (15-15, 4-13) lost for the fourth time in the past five games.
Down 44-43 with 6:17 to play, and having averaged a scant .78 points per possession to that point, the Jackets turned to guard Josh Okogie and center Ben Lammers to finish off the game. They scored 16 of Tech’s final 18 points.
Lammers, who had been struggling offensively in recent games, finished with a game-high 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting. Okogie added 14 on 5-for-9 shooting from the field.
Pitt’s 52 points were almost 18 below their average in ACC play. The Panthers shot 37.7 percent from the field.
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