If the drudgery of close loss after close loss in ACC play has done anything for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, maybe it’s left them unfazed by much.
Coming into Cameron Indoor Stadium Wednesday night against No. 4 Duke, the Yellow Jackets threw up their collective palms and just played - and played hard. They slapped a big body on Jahlil Okafor in Demarco Cox in the low block, took an early lead, hit some big transition baskets and just absolutely hung around.
Duke looked up with 7:55 to play and only led by 1 point, 57-56, in what was supposed to be little but a triumphant return home against the last-place team in the ACC after a three-game road swing that included Coach K’s 1,000th win and handing No. 2 Virginia its first loss of the season.
Georgia Tech had other ideas, at least for the first 33 minutes of the game, before running out of them once again in a 72-66 loss. A flurry of defensive lapses with six minutes to go and a couple of sloppy passes in the final minute cost the Yellow Jackets the chance for the upset.
No. 4 Duke (19-3, 6-3) escaped with its eighth straight win over the Yellow Jackets and the 15th in 16 games against Tech at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Cox helped keep Okafor to 14 points on only 5-of-12 shooting, but Duke’s Justise Winslow picked up his slack. He poured in 15 points and 10 rebounds. .
Chris Bolden paced Tech with 16 points, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range. Marcus Georges-Hunt added 14 points and nine rebounds.
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