ATLANTA — Short a starter and playing a more physical style than typical, Georgia Tech earned its biggest win of the season, pushing past No. 16 Florida State, 76-65, on Saturday at McCamish Pavilion. In a defensive struggle, the Yellow Jackets relied on their defense to create 13 steals and took advantage of 25 trips to the free-throw line to survive the Seminoles.
Tech (8-5, 4-3 ACC) earned a win critical to its NCAA Tournament hopes after losing winnable games to No. 13 Virginia and Duke this past week. Florida State (10-3, 6-2) saw a five-game winning streak come to an end. The Seminoles also had won their past five meetings with the Jackets.
Tech was without starting guard Bubba Parham, who was away from the team attending the funeral of a cousin. Forward Khalid Moore made his first start of the season in his place. After the game, coach Josh Pastner said that the team dedicated the win to Parham.
Forward Moses Wright led the Jackets with 23 points, eight rebounds and six steals, playing 38 minutes against Florida State’s rotation of post players. Guard Jose Alvarado starred again, making key baskets and scoring 21 points with five steals. Wright and Alvarado became the first pair of ACC teammates to record 20 points and five steals in the past 25 seasons, according to a tweet from the ACC Network.
Guard Michael Devoe came to Tech’s aid with 19 points after a two-game slump in which he had scored a total of seven points on 3-for-17 shooting.
Tech took a 33-26 lead into halftime, lurching ahead with a closing 11-1 run fueled by challenging defense. Devoe was in position to draw an over-the-back foul. Wright blocked a dunk try and later stole an inbounds pass. Alvarado swiped the ball from guard RayQuan Evans with his blurry-quick hands.
Tech hung on in the second half, squeezing out enough steals, free throws and clutch baskets to fend off the Seminoles. A key sequence unfolded with the Jackets up 54-47 with 7:16 remaining. Thanks to FSU losing a missed free throw out of bounds to extend Tech’s possession, Seminoles guard M.J. Walker was called for his fourth and fifth fouls, costing FSU its leading scorer. The Jackets went up 57-47, then got the ball back when FSU lost the ball on a throwahead pass. Wright made another free throw to put the Jackets up by 11 for a 58-47 lead with 6:32 to play.
Tech’s lead didn’t fall below seven points the rest of the way. Wright punctuated the win with three dunks in the final minute. With Florida State getting called for 22 fouls, the most for a Tech opponent in a non-overtime game, the Jackets were 19 for 25 from the line.
.jpg?w=600)
