Waiting out the inevitable it feels
This has not been a season to remember in Tech basketball history, and today’s game likely will get lost to the record books with how close the actual result came to the expected. Georgia Tech men’s basketball falls to an even .500 on the season with an 11-11 record and a 2-7 ACC record after a 91-75 loss to #16 North Carolina.
From the minute we showed up to McCamish Pavilion, UNC fans were louder and here ahead of most non-student Tech fans (kudos to them, they filled out their section early). Damon received a small platter of boos upon his introduction. Mark Price was in the building and recognized at midcourt in the first half.
Tech was without Mo Sylla, who has battled a leg injury the majority of ACC play, and was severely missed against North Carolina as Tech lacked the interior presence needed to fight off UNC’s Henri Veesaar.
Baye Ndongo was the lone big bright spot for Tech, finishing with 27 points on 9-12 shooting. Kam Craft and Kowacie Reeves finished with 15 and 14 points respectively.
Turnovers were the big decider in this game as Tech committed 12 turnovers to UNC’s two. The Heels scored 18 points off those Tech turnovers.
Game Flow:
North Carolina went out with a early 7-0 advantage before Baye Ndongo tied it up all by himself with seven straight points. Things stayed close with buckets by Jaeden Mustaf, Ndongo, and Kowacie Reeves before back-to-back threes by the Tar Heels grew their lead to 22-14 going into the 10:12 TV timeout. A three by Derek Dixon gave the Heels their first double digit lead after the timeout.
From the 10 minute to 6:42 mark, UNC extended their lead to 33-21 to the next break at which point they were on a seven of nine shooting run.
Near the end of the first half, a Caleb Wilson mega acrobatic alley-oop dunk electrified the UNC contingent and followed it up a minute later with a wide open dunk to go up 50-35. Thankfully the end of half was within a minute of game time away, otherwise North Carolina was in a position to potentially really make the scoreboard look worse. Halftime score: 52-37 UNC
Tech’s first five minutes of the 2nd half didn’t inspire any real hope that they had found a way to overpower UNC. Nor was any success coming from outscheming UNC to compensate for the size disadvantage provided by Henri Veesaar around the rim. Tech being down Mo Sylla seriously hurt the Jackets today in particular because of that matchup.
With 14 minutes left in the 2nd half, UNC went up 20 on a Luka Bogavac three pointer. From there, the game didn’t hit the malaise of garbage time so to say, but Tech didn’t have the ammo to make a real run and UNC played like it was business as usual. Around the five minute mark, UNC was taking the gas slightly off the pedal but they could afford to up 84-68. The starters came out with 96 seconds left in the game and UNC coasted in with ease to a 91-75 win.
Category: General Sports
