On Jan. 12, the Virginia Tech Hokies came to Atlanta and stole a win in overtime from the Jackets. The Jackets weren’t as forgiving last Saturday in Blacksburg as Georgia Tech rolled to a 64-54 victory over the Hokies. The win marked Tech’s first victory at Cassell Coliseum and first conference road win in over a year.
Tech withstood the Hokies’ late run and earned the win.
Georgia Tech allowed the Hokies a brief lead in the early going at 1-0 after a Virginia Tech free throw. Freshman guard Marcus Georges-Hunt kicked off the ensuing 25-7 Georgia Tech run at the 16:32 mark with a jumper for the game’s first field goal. Hunt would finish the game with 13 points, tied with redshirt-junior forward Kammeon Holsey for the team lead.
The Jackets continued to take it to the Hokies throughout the first half, leading by as many as 22 points. Redshirt-junior guard Brandon Reed continued his high level of play, finishing the day with a solid all- around performance of nine points, four rebounds, and four assists, one of which was a pass through traffic in the paint which resulted in a dunk by redshirt-junior center Daniel Miller.
Georgia Tech led by a score of 37-18 at the half over the Hokies, who were shooting an arctic 20.7 percent from the floor.
The Jackets appeared to be in control through the first five minutes of the second half, increasing their lead to 25 before the Hokies finally began to shoot the ball with some success. In similar fashion to the January matchup, the Hokies’ Erick Green took over. After scoring 12 of his team’s 18 first half points, Green added an additional 16 in the second half. For a few minutes, as Virginia Tech cut the lead to just 11 points with 10 minutes remaining, it appeared as though they might be in position to pull off their second comeback win over the Jackets.
However, this time was different, as Georgia Tech withstood the Hokies’ late run and earned the win. Georgia Tech spread its scoring around effectively. Freshman forward Robert Carter Jr., Miller, and senior guard Mfon Udofia all added seven points and a combined 20 rebounds.
The Jackets head to Winston-Salem to take on Wake Forest this Saturday before returning home to play the North Carolina Tar Heels on Tuesday, Feb. 19.