Sisyphus’ favorite basketball team did it again.
Georgia Tech lost its fifth consecutive game to open ACC play in a manner that, if you watched any of the first four, probably looked familiar.
Against Pittsburgh in their first visit to the raucous Petersen Events Center, the Yellow Jackets had chances late but were done in by their own mistakes and offensive failures. The Panthers defeated Tech 70-65 on Saturday afternoon, the Jackets’ fourth loss of five in which the margin was three points or fewer with one minute to play in regulation.
Like the Greek mythological figure fated for eternity to push a boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down, the Jackets did everything but close the deal.
“We just haven’t gotten over the hump yet,” forward Charles Mitchell said.
Tech (9-8, 0-5 ACC) has lost its first five ACC games for the sixth time in school history and the second time in coach Brian Gregory’s tenure. Pittsburgh (13-5, 3-2) won despite getting outrebounded 39-29, in no small part because it turned the ball over only six times to Tech’s 15.
“Unfortunately in this league, sometimes the last step is the hardest one,” Gregory said.
As has been the case in each of the first five league games, facets of the Jackets’ play rated favorably. They made 17 of 20 free throws, their fifth game in the past six shooting 80 percent or better. They recovered from an unsteady start in which they twice fell behind by nine to tie the score at 31-31 by halftime, thanks to strong bench play from forwards Robert Sampson and Quinton Stephens (a combined 14 first-half points). They forced Pitt into 2-for-11 shooting from 3-point range.
“We fought well,” said Sampson, who led the Jackets with a season-high 16 points and added eight rebounds.
But, as was the case in the two losses to Notre Dame and the one to Syracuse (by a combined 11 points), Tech wandered on offense or was incapable for just long enough to lose.
On Saturday, it was a string of four turnovers in five possessions in about a three-minute stretch midway through the second half. None were created by overt Pittsburgh pressure, just momentary inattention or failed execution.
Tech led 49-45 with 11:42 to play, gave up a basket to reduce the lead to two and then went on its turnover spree. By the time Mitchell’s bounce pass to guard Travis Jorgenson was intercepted by guard Cameron Wright and turned into a layup, Pittsburgh led 53-49 with 7:50 to play.
“There’s always some stretch in the game where we make mistakes that we can’t make,” Mitchell said.
Points off of turnovers: Pittsburgh 14, Tech 2.
The Jackets rallied to tie the score at 53-53. However, in managing one shot in five possessions, Tech torched an opportunity to create some margin for error going into the treacherous final minutes.
Said Gregory, “For us, we’re shooting better, and we’re shooting well at the free-throw line when we get fouled and we’re an exceptional offensive rebounding team, and so we’ve got to get the ball on the rim.”
Down 63-60 with a minute to play after a Sampson 3-pointer, Gregory chose to have the team foul, though it could have gotten the ball back with about 25 seconds left with a stop.
“We wanted to set up our defense and get some traps in the backcourt to see if we could force a turnover on that,” Gregory said. “And make them make some free throws potentially if we did foul.”
Pitt made seven of eight free throws in the last minute to close out the Jackets. Tech will attempt to end the slide at No. 2 Virginia on Thursday.
“This is the moment in time where you have to come together more,” said Mitchell, who had seven offensive rebounds and a game-high nine overall. “You’ve just got to keep fighting. You never can give up.”
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