Out of sorts for the first three-quarters of the game, Georgia Tech stole out of the second round of the ACC tournament with a stunning comeback. Playing with confidence and tenacity, the No. 10 seed Yellow Jackets booted No. 7 seed Clemson with an 88-85 overtime win Wednesday night at the Verizon Center.
Down 67-49 with 8:30 to play, the Jackets caught fire, going on a run of 8-0 to cut the lead to 10 and then forcing overtime with a 10-2 run in the final two minutes of regulation. Tech opened overtime with a 6-1 run to take a lead it never relinquished.
“I’ve never seen anything like that, especially with the magnitude of the game,” coach Brian Gregory said.
The late-game comeback has become rather commonplace for the Jackets, who advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal against No. 2 seed Virginia. In the final five games of the regular season, Tech beat Notre Dame after trailing by six points with three minutes to play, rallied from 13 down with 16 minutes to play to defeat Clemson and executed a minimum-security escape against Pittsburgh by overcoming a nine-point deficit late in the first half.
It was the largest comeback of Gregory’s tenure, surpassing two rallies from 13 points down, the second of which was against the same Tigers Feb. 23. It was, in fact, the largest for a Tech team since the Jackets beat Wisconsin in Nov. 2001 after falling behind by 20 in the second half.
“Every time we fouled, we just told each other, ‘One stop at a time,’” guard Marcus Georges-Hunt said. “‘Nothing crazy. Just one stop, one rebound, limit them to one shot, then execute on offense.’”
Tech (19-13) is into the tournament quarterfinals for the first time since the 2010 ACC tournament, when it reached the finals before losing to Duke. The Jackets will play No. 2 seed Virginia, which it upset 68-64 Jan. 9.
While the Jackets have the experience of defeating the fourth-ranked Cavaliers, Virginia is playing better at this point. The Cavaliers concluded the regular season by winning 11 of their final 13 games and presumably will enjoy a virtual home-court advantage Thursday night.
Clemson (17-14), which in January scored consecutive victories over Louisville, Duke and Miami, has lost four of its past five games. Tech ended a 10-game losing streak to the Tigers last season and now has won three of its past five against Clemson.
Backup delivers
Backup forward James White came up big for the Jackets, particularly after forward Charles Mitchell fouled out with 1:16 remaining. In the overtime session, he scored Tech’s first two baskets, both on putbacks. For the game, White scored eight points on 4-for-4 shooting to go with eight rebounds and a block in 23 minutes.
Georges-Hunt and guard Adam Smith led the comeback, “but we don’t win that game if James doesn’t play the way he does,” Gregory said.
Clutch Jackets
Tech continues its hard-to-believe run. The Jackets began the ACC season 2-8, a start that extended their record in ACC games decided by fewer than 10 points to 2-10, dating back to last season. In the past nine games, the Jackets are 7-2, with all seven of the wins decided by six points or less.
“It feels really good to steal some games just like that,” guard Josh Heath said. “It feels really good to be on the opposide end of that.”
Georges-Hunt leads again
Guard Marcus Georges-Hunt refused to give in, willing the Jackets back in the game after they fell behind 67-49 and seemed to lack energy and poise. He scored eight points in three consecutive possessions to cut the lead to 10 and kept up the attack, driving to the basket for fouls. He scored 19 points in the final 8:46 in regulation, 12 on free throws. He was 6-for-6 in the final 1:10 of regulation, when Tech finished with 6-1 run to send the game to overtime. He finished with a team-high 28 points, including a 15-for-16 performance from the free-throw line.
Teammates “just told me to go attack,” Georges-Hunt said. “I wasn’t playing aggressive enough. That’s what it really was.”
Off their game
Tech deserved to be down 18 with 8:30 left in the game. The Jackets turned the ball over 10 times in 32 first-half possessions, at least four of them on uncharacteristically careless passes. Jaron Blossomgame, Clemson’s first-team All-ACC forward, used his quickness advantage to practically score at will when matched up on Charles Mitchell in the first half. The Jackets didn’t do a good enough job challenging Clemson’s 3-point shooting, resulting in the Tigers’ 10 3-pointers.
“Honestly, at one point in that game, I felt like it was going to be my last one,” Smith said. “That’s when the fight came out.”
Tough defeat
Clemson was complicit in Tech’s comeback. The Tigers seemed to play more tentatively as the Jackets approached, not forcing contact and drawing fouls in the way that Tech was.
When an opponent is rallying “they’re playing more aggressively,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “They’re sending everybody to the glass. It doesn’t really matter if they push you in the back and get a rebound. They’re just attack mode. And, defensively, you’re, you know, a little bit on your heels at times because of the fouls every possession.”
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