A furious rally was not enough to save Georgia Tech Tuesday night.
Down 14 points with three minutes to play and nine with 36 seconds left in the game, the Yellow Jackets nearly pulled off what would have been one of the most stunning comebacks in team history but instead fell 71-69 to N.C. State at McCamish Pavilion.
Down two points with 2.1 seconds left after N.C. State guard Dennis Smith’s free throw, forward Quinton Stephens threw a long inbounds pass to center Ben Lammers, who caught and passed the ball in midair to guard Tadric Jackson on the right wing. With a clear, if slightly off-balance look at the basket, Jackson, who had already hit two 3-pointers in the final two minutes, released a shot that bounced off the rim.
Tech (16-12 overall, 7-8 ACC) damaged its NCAA tournament chances by falling to a team that had lost seven games in a row, probably has the weakest defense in the ACC and is playing out the season with a coach (Mark Gottfried) who has already been fired. N.C. State (15-14, 4-12) was the beneficiary of playing a Tech team that took the court less than 48 hours after its emotional win over Syracuse on Sunday had ended. The Jackets looked flat and did not play with the typical high-energy form that has characterized their unlikely season.
Five observations from the game
When the game was lost
Late in the first half, Tech closed to within 35-30 on a long jumper by Jackson with 45 seconds left in the half. With a stop and a basket, the Jackets could have closed the margin to one possession after being down as many as 10 points. However, Tech surrendered an alley-oop dunk with 11 seconds to play and then Stephens turned the ball over with a rushed pass on the ensuing inbounds play. Wolfpack guard Maverick Rowan missed his first shot after the steal but scored on a putback to give the Wolfpack a 39-30 lead going into halftime.
Combined with clutch shot-making in the second half by Smith (18 points), that margin proved insurmountable for the Jackets.
“I thought those plays were big,” Gottfried said.
Wobbly legs
Tech center Ben Lammers played 40 minutes against Syracuse Sunday after playing 40 last Wednesday against Miami. Tuesday, the 6-foot-10 center, who came into the game fifth in the ACC in minutes per game (34.7), looked spent.
A 53 percent shooter from the field, he missed his first eight shots and left free throws short, making 4-for-8. While still collecting nine rebounds and four blocks, he scored a season-low six points and wasn’t as influential in the outcome as he has typically been.
“It’s not like I was dying, but I should have altered my game a little bit more maybe, because I don’t think I had the same juice that I usually do,” Lammers said. “I still should have been effective, but I didn’t do the right things to contribute to my team.”
As a whole, the impact of playing two days after the emotional win over Syracuse, one in which Lammers and Stephens played 40 minutes and guards Josh Heath and Josh Okogie played 38, was not insignificant. The Jackets were late to 50-50 balls, secured only 41 percent of the available rebounds and shot 13-for-22 from the free-throw line, often missing short.
“I felt early, we were missed a lot of those 50-50 balls and we were a little slow to balls, but maybe you go a little deeper in the bench there,” Pastner said. However, “you get behind and we were struggling so score, so it was a catch-22.”
Tech will be off until it plays at No. 21 Notre Dame on Sunday, but will have another Sunday-Tuesday set, playing Pitt at home after the Irish.
Commendable rally
Had Jackson’s final shot gone in, it would have been a truly remarkable comeback. The Jackets were down 62-48 with 3:09 to play after Rowan hit his only 3-pointer out of eight tries. After that, Tech finished the game on a 21-9 run. Included in the rally – a steal by guard Corey Heyward that led to a flagrant foul and a four-point possession, two tap-out rebounds by Lammers to extend a possession that ended in his only field goal of the game, 5-for-6 shooting from the free-throw line, Jackson’s two 3-pointers, well-executed fouling to put the Wolfpack on the line without much time lost, two forced turnovers in the final 30 seconds and the final play, executed flawlessly except the shot.
“I was so proud of our guys on the late-game execution,” Pastner said. “We’ve been really good on that. This team has continued to never stop playing.”
Freshman leads
Okogie carried the Jackets, finishing with a game-high 25 points on 11-for-17 shooting. Midway through the second half, Tech trailed 48-43, and Okogie had scored 22 of the points. In the final minute, he hit a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left to keep the game alive.
“I just tried to do all I could for my teammates,” Okogie said.
Okogie was the only dependable scorer for Tech and was strong going to the rim on cutters and drives on a night when his teammates were having issues scoring close to the basket. At least twice he beat the Wolfpack down the court for transition baskets after they had made baskets at the other end.
“I’m two feet in with him,” Pastner said. “We’re going to roll with him. Whether he’s playing not good, good, whatever – we’re relying on him.”
What it means for the tournament
The game was not fatal for the Jackets' NCAA tournament hopes, but it was a pretty sizable wound. Tech's RPI dropped 12 slots to No. 88, according to warrennolan.com .
RPI is not as meaningful as it once was, but getting into the 60’s would likely aid Tech’s candidacy. More germane, though, is that Tech went into the game probably needing to go at least 2-2, if not 3-1, to have a solid shot at the field of 68. With the loss, Tech now has to either win at Notre Dame on Sunday or at Syracuse on March 4 in the regular-season finale, in addition to beating Pitt at home next Tuesday.
Beyond the fact that Tech is 1-5 in ACC road games, the Irish and Orange are a combined 28-5 at home this year and will be eager for payback after the Jackets pulled out last-second wins at McCamish against both. Both teams will also be playing Tech on extended rest.
Pastner said after the game that he “truly believed” that finishing at 9-9 (meaning 2-1 in the next three) will get the Jackets into the tournament.
An earlier version of this story included an incorrect statement of Georgia Tech’s record in ACC road games.
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