What a game and what a moment for Marcus Georges-Hunt and all the other seniors on this team! With the Yellow Jackets in the Atlanta spotlight on a Saturday night, MGH hit a go ahead shot with less than one second left to lift the Yellow Jackets over #19 Notre Dame and get a critical win on the road to postseason play.
Tech held a 37-30 lead at halftime after shooting 52% and holding Notre Dame to 42% shooting. The Jackets scored on their first possession of the second half and looked to pull away from Notre Dame, but ND had other ideas and slowly chipped away at the lead. At the halfway mark of the second half, ND took their first lead of the game since 3-2 and Tech fans everywhere were concerned we had seen this before. The Jackets hung in, not trailing by any more than six, which was the lead ND held with just over 2 minutes left. McCamish Pavilion got loud and the Jackets got some key stops before it came down to the wire with Tech getting the last possession, down one. MGH got the ball on the right side, drove into multiple ND defenders, spun to his left and threw the ball towards the basket, where it shortly hung on the rim before dropping into the basket.
There are plenty of negative things that could be touched on in this game, such as the 32% second half shooting or the missed free throws in the second half, but now does not seem like the time for that. The Yellow Jacket players need to be applauded for fighting to the very end and never giving up. MGH once again led the Jackets in points, scoring 19 and also adding a team high 7 assists. Nick Jacobs pulled in 12 rebounds, contributing to a plus-10 rebound margin for Tech. As a team, Tech took care of the ball, turning it over just seven times, four below their already impressive 11 per game average.
In terms of the bigger picture, this game represents an extremely critical win on Tech's road to postseason play. The Jackets have now won three of their last four and now sit at 15-12 on the season. Tech finishes the regular season with games vs Clemson, @Lousiville, @BC, and vs Pitt before heading to D.C. for the ACC tournament.
Enjoy this win Tech fans. It's been a long time coming and it feels so so sweet!