CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami men’s basketball team (15-13, 6-11 ACC) fell to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (12-16, 5-12), 80-76, Saturday afternoon at the Watsco Center.
“The start of the second half was just a big part of the story,” head coach Jim Larrañaga said. “They did a great job coming out of halftime…we fought back late, but you have to give them credit. They shot lights out from three. They outrebounded us, and they had 22 assists…We forced some turnovers to give us a chance late in the game but, unfortunately, were not able to overcome a 10-point [deficit].”
Freshman Kyshawn George and junior Bensley Joseph led the Hurricanes on offense, pouring in 16 points each. Juniors Wooga Poplar and Matthew Cleveland joined the pair in double-figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Georgia Tech’s Miles Kelly paced all scorers with 25 points, highlighted by a 7-of-11 effort from 3-point range.
The first half was a 3-point slug fest that continued as Miami and Georgia Tech combined for 20 threes in the first half alone, nine for the Hurricanes and 11 for the Yellow Jackets. Miami’s nine threes match a season high for first-half 3-pointers.
The Hurricanes used a 56 percent shooting effort in the first half to take a 49-45 lead into the halftime break.
Georgia Tech regrouped in the locker room and started the second half on a 9-0 run, going up five, 54-49, just two minutes and seconds into the frame.
The Yellow Jackets extended their lead to as much as 13, but the Hurricanes found some life late in the second half, stringing together a 10-0 run to cut the Georgia Tech lead to three, 73-76, with 1:27 to play in the game.
The Miami defense held Georgia Tech to four points in the final six minutes of action. Still, time ultimately ran out of the Hurricanes’ comeback, and Georgia Tech narrowly squeaked out the 80-76 victory.
On Monday, Miami heads to Chapel Hill, N.C., to take on the No. 10/9 North Carolina Tar Heels. Tipoff at the Dean E. Smith Center is set for 7 p.m. the game will air on ESPN.
Courtesy of Miami Athletics
