National Basketball Association
Georgia Tech 63, Notre Dame 62
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 20, 2016
Where: McCamish Pavilion, Atlanta, Georgia
Officials:
# Mike Eades, # Les Jones, # Bryan Kearsey
Attendance:
8600
By The Sports Xchange
ATLANTA -- Marcus Georges-Hunt has had plenty of opportunities to take the deciding shot in his four seasons at Georgia Tech. He got another chance on Saturday and made the most of it.
The senior guard hit a runner with one second left to give Georgia Tech a 63-62 win over No. 19 Notre Dame on Saturday night in an Atlantic Coast Conference game.
"It was a great play by Marcus," Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory said. "He's made a lot of game-winning shots for us. He doesn't bat an eye when you call his number."
The Yellow Jackets had the ball with 17.6 seconds left and called timeout with 10.4 seconds remaining. The ball was inbounded to guard Adam Smith, who passed to Georges-Hunt to the right of the lane. He got a screen from forward Charles Mitchell, drove to the basket and put up a shot that seemed to hang on the rim for seconds before dropping through for the go-ahead points.
"We showed some zone and they probably drew up a zone play after the timeout," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. "Even though Steve (Vasturia) had a pretty good chest on him, (Georges-Hunt) is so physical and strong. That's a big-time drive right there."
Notre Dame's desperation shot from its backcourt from guard Demetrius Jackson wasn't close and Georgia Tech had its second victory over a ranked team this year.
Georges-Hunt scored 19 points for Georgia Tech (15-12, 5-10 ACC), which won back-to-back ACC games for the first time since 2013-14. Georges-Hunt added seven assists and three rebounds.
"I had some shots go in and out, but I got the one that counted the most," Georges-Hunt said. "I stopped and paused and everybody was looking to see if it went in. It finally went down and everybody just exploded."
Georgia Tech got 14 points and six rebounds from Mitchell and a game-high 12 rebounds from forward Nick Jacobs. Smith had nine points, all in the second half, including a 3-pointer that drew the Yellow Jackets to within a point with 50 seconds left.
Notre Dame (18-8, 9-5) had four players in double figures. Forward Zach Auguste and forward V.J. Beachem scored 13 points each, Jackson had 12 and forward Bonzie Colson added 10. The loss ended Notre Dame's three game winning streak.
Notre Dame took the lead for the first time at 47-46 when Auguste drove for a score with 10:59 left. After a steal and a foul, the Irish upped the lead to four points when Beachem made a 3-pointer from the corner with 10:29 left.
Notre Dame led by six with 4:42 left on an Auguste bucket but scored only one more basket the rest of the game.
"I think it was their defense," Brey said. "I think they really defended us better. We had a small lineup that helped us get it out to six. I thought they just were better on the ball screen defense on Demetrius."
Georgia Tech shot 52 percent from the field in the first half, led by as many as nine points and had a 37-30 advantage.
The Yellow Jackets focused on attacking the basket with their physical forwards and scored 24 points in the paint, with 13 of those coming on drives by Georges-Hunt in the opening half.
Notre Dame shot just 42 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes but kept it close with three timely 3-point baskets. Auguste, who scored 24 against the Yellow Jackets in their first meeting this season, picked up his second foul and sat out the final 8:07 of the first half.
"I'm happy for our guys," Gregory said. "We've had some disappointments and some tough times and they've kept fighting through it."
NOTES: Notre Dame G Demetrius Jackson was named ACC Player of the Week for the first time in his career. Jackson averaged 22 points in victories over Clemson and Louisville. ... Notre Dame began the night ranked No. 1 in the nation in offensive efficiency. ... Georgia Tech F Charles Mitchell surpassed 1,000 points for his career with his first basket of the game. The Yellow Jackets gave F Quinton Stephens his second straight start. ... Georgia Tech hosts Clemson on Tuesday. Notre Dame plays at Wake Forest on Wednesday.
Top Game Performances
| Notre Dame |
|
Georgia Tech |
|
Zach Auguste 13 |
Scoring |
Marcus Georges-Hunt 19 |
|
Steve Vasturia 4 |
Assists |
Marcus Georges-Hunt 7 |
|
Zach Auguste 9 |
Rebounds |
Nick Jacobs 12 |
|
Bonzie Colson 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Marcus Georges-Hunt 4 |
|
Demetrius Jackson 2 |
Steals |
Marcus Georges-Hunt 1 |
|
V.J. Beachem 1 |
Blocks |
Nick Jacobs 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Notre Dame
|
62 |
44.4 |
6-18 |
8-13 |
10 |
26 |
1 |
3 |
10 |
| Georgia Tech
|
63 |
41.7 |
4-15 |
9-15 |
12 |
36 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
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