Mired in the funk of a low-functioning offense and an inability to seize moments as they arise, Georgia Tech continues to plunge the depths of the ACC standings.
In a matchup of teams with winless league records, the Yellow Jackets made a last-minute charge at Boston College before absorbing a 64-62 loss Sunday afternoon at McCamish Pavilion.
Tech (9-10, 0-7 ACC) has lost its first seven games of ACC play for just the fourth time in school history. It was the fifth game of the seven in which the scoring margin with one minute to play was three points or fewer.
Down by 11 points at the 10-minute mark and playing some of its loosest defense of the season, the Jackets managed to rally from a 59-52 deficit with 3:58 to play to tie the game at 59 on two free throws by forward Marcus Georges-Hunt with 1:26 remaining.
The Jackets then permitted Boston College guard Olivier Hanlan to score on a backdoor cut with 1:10 left and followed it up with an empty possession. Boston College guard Patrick Heckmannn’s two free throws with 27 seconds left firmed the outcome.
“Tie score, we’ve got to get a stop and we weren’t able to do that,” coach Brian Gregory said. “And you can look at a lot of games like that.”
Sunday, it was again a case of Tech rebounding well, showing competence in some aspects of play and falling short in others. The Jackets benefited from one of Georges-Hunt’s best games of the season — 20 points on 13 shots with a season-high nine rebounds and four assists. After shooting 0-for-12 on 3-point tries against Virginia in the 57-28 loss last Thursday, Tech was an acceptable 8-for-23 from 3-point range. Forward Quinton Stephens was 4-for-9 from the arc.
But the Jackets started abysmally, making one of their first 11 field-goal tries. Tech’s improving free-throw shooting lagged (12-for-18) and the second-half defense was egregious.
With big men Demarco Cox and Charles Mitchell limited to a combined 14 minutes in the second half with foul trouble, Boston College (9-9, 1-5) exploited Tech’s small lineup and attacked the basket. The Eagles shot 59.1 percent from the field in the second half, the highest percentage Tech has allowed in any half this season.
Hanlan, the Tech killer who is averaging 22.7 points in six career games against the Jackets, scored 15 of his season-high 25 after halftime.
“I thought they forced us into some sloppiness and lack of concentration on some key defensive coverages,” Gregory said.
And still, Tech had chances. The Jackets closed the gap to 48-44 with 8:34 remaining on a 3-pointer by Stephens. However, the Jackets gave up an easy layup to return the lead to six. After Stephens missed a 3-pointer, Tech guard Travis Jorgenson intercepted a pass at midcourt and fed the ball to Georges-Hunt on a fast break. Georges-Hunt was unable to finish and, despite being outmanned, Hanlan won the rebound and initiated a break that resulted in an easy dunk for Will Magarity and a 52-44 lead.
“We have three or four of those in the game, where we make a great effort play, great hustle play, and we just get nothing out of it,” Gregory said. “I would say, more than the wins and losses, that’s the first time I’ve ever seen that happen in six out of seven games.”
Gregory was asked following the game if he felt that the team was improving. He replied that he thought it was, in some areas.
“Obviously, you can talk about improvement and all that stuff, but I’m a realist,” Gregory said. “You’ve also got to win some games in order to kind of prove that.”
