TALLAHASSEE, FLA. _ On the road against a ranked opponent, Georgia Tech walked a familiar path to defeat Tuesday afternoon.
Largely defending well against No. 18 Florida State, the Yellow Jackets did themselves in with poor decisions with the ball and errant shooting in a 70-58 loss at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
The Jackets were within five points of Florida State for the first 30 minutes of the game and were closer than that for most of the time. In the second half, they had seven possessions in which they could have tied or taken the lead.
However, they were empty on all seven, mixing in turnovers with close-range misses. A subsequent 8-2 FSU run midway through the second half put the Seminoles ahead 56-47 and began to seal Tech's fate.
For the game, Tech shot 40% from the field and turned the ball over 20 times, numbers generally incompatible with victory. In a game that initiated the bulk of their ACC schedule, the Jackets fell to 6-7 overall and 1-2 in ACC play.
FSU (12-2, 2-1) shot 46% from the field (29-for-63), making 11 of its final 18 attempts as the Jackets' defense flattened in the final quarter of the game.
Tech was led by guard Michael Devoe's 19 points, shooting 6-for-8 from 3-point range. The Jackets have lost in seven of their past eight trips to Tallahassee.
