Georgia Tech Drops Game Against Seminoles 70-58

With 10 minutes left in the game Tech was trailing by 3. They had hung around all game on the road against a very good FSU team. They were disciplined defensively, they had some success on offense against FSU’s length, and were grinding it out. Then Jordan Usher got called for a fragrant foul contesting a Seminole layup. Things went downhill from there. FSU got four points on that possession and then slowly extended thing over the final 10 minutes. This was the turning point. Beforehand Tech felt like they had a chance of pulling the upset. After that possession it seemed like FSU pulling away was inevitable. FSU started hitting their shots and Tech missed theirs. With four minutes left it was a 12 point game. This game was winnable for GT, they just couldn’t hold on for 40 minutes.

Georgia Tech could not get shots up. They turned the ball over 20 times and got blocked 9 times. They’d have needed to shoot lights out to overcome that. Florida State was long and active and Tech didn’t do nearly enough to avoid FSU’s hands. The Yellow Jackets held their own on the boards though. Both teams ended with 13 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds. Tech deserves credit for holding serve against that size.

Defensively I think Tech played pretty well, but they seemed to tire out as the game went on and the Seminoles didn’t thanks to their deep bench.

Tech’s scoring came mostly as a result of Michael Devoe. He finished with 19 points on 6-13 shooting (6-8 from three). He struggled from inside the line, but his deep shot kept the team in the game. Moses Wright had 13 points on 6-13 shooting and 10 rebounds, but he also had 6 turnovers. Jordan Usher was 4-11 for 11 points, but most of those came when the game was over late. Jose Alvarado had 5 assists, but he was just 2-10 from the floor.

Florida State spread out their scoring over the 9 or so players who played real minutes. Freshman forward Patrick Williams was very good today with 12 points on 6-9 shooting, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Guard Devin Vassell had 14 points and 8 rebounds. Backup big man Dominik Olejniczak had a solid game with 9 points on 4-6 shooting after their starting center got hurt early in the game.

FSU gets up to 2-1 in conference play. They have a shot at the title this year. Tech drops to 1-2 with UNC and Duke coming up.