1. Sunday's matchup paired the team last in the ACC in field-goal percentage, Georgia Tech at 42.2 percent, against the conference's No. 2 team in field-goal percentage defense, Virginia at 36.8 percent. Naturally, the Yellow Jackets had one of their best shooting games of the season.
Tech converted 47.8 percent of their shots, benefiting from strong shooting games in particular from forwards Robert Carter (6-for-8) and Kammeon Holsey (5-for-7).
“That’s hard to do against them,” Tech coach Brian Gregory said.
In ACC play, it was Tech’s second-best shooting percentage and Virginia’s second worst. Point guard Mfon Udofia led the Jackets with 15 points. It was his first time leading the team in scoring since scoring 10 against Miami in the ACC opener and his highest output since a 16-point game against Cal Nov. 23. Prior to Sunday, Udofia had made 16-of-56 shots in ACC play after making 42 of 80 in the nonconference schedule. He was 4-for-8 from the field Sunday, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range and also 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
“We got a big lift from Mfon,” Holsey said. “He played a great game.”
2. Having permitted Virginia to finish the first half on a 10-4 run, Tech went into halftime trailing by nine points. The Jackets had previously lost control of games at the end of the half against Miami, Duke and Clemson. A day after Punxsutawney Phil did his thing, Gregory saw fit to make a prediction, telling players that they would be in the game with two minutes remaining in the second half and this time finish.
“Because we’re going to execute well, defend well and we’re going to end up winning this game in the last two minutes,” Gregory said after the game, revisiting his charge.
Gregory proved prophetic, as Tech rallied from nine down with eight minutes remaining in the win. With two minutes to go, the score was tied at 57. During a late timeout, Gregory reminded the team of his prediction.
“It was just like, he was right,” guard Chris Bolden said. “We just wanted to dig even deeper. We didn’t want, two minutes later, to feel that pain of regretting a play or something like that.”
Asked if he often tries to make halftime predictions, Gregory answered, "Not necessarily. I just kind of got a vibe from the team."
Down four points with five minutes to go, Tech recorded just its second win under Gregory and first in ACC play in which it trailed at the five-minute mark.
3. Forward Marcus Georges-Hunt did not contribute a bunch on the offensive end – seven points on 1-for-6 shooting – but helped slow down Virginia guard Joe Harris, who came into the game averaging 15.2 points and on the heels of a 22-point game against N.C. State. Scraping Georges-Hunt off on screens, Harris dropped 14 points in the first half, including three 3-pointers. In the second, Harris scored four points on 1-for-5 shooting.
“I thought Marcus did an unbelievable job on Harris, especially in the second half,” Gregory said.
Said Virginia coach Tony Bennett, “I thought they locked onto him a little more (in the second half) and that’s where other guys (could have) benefited from it, but we didn’t capitalize on that.”
4. Attendance was announced at 7,128. Fans became particularly animated as Tech made its late-game rally. "I saw everybody rise up and start standing up and cheering," Bolden said. "We needed that." … Tech football coach Paul Johnson attended the game with prospect Corn Elder, a running back from Nashville. Elder has also received recruiting attention as a basketball player.
