With a 67-53 loss to No. 8 Kentucky Saturday at Rupp Arena, Georgia Tech fell to 4-4 for the season. A week after a decisive home loss to Syracuse, the Yellow Jackets gave a much better account of themselves, but not enough to upset Kentucky (8-1) in its own fabled arena.
» MARK BRADLEY: Tech is out-defended at Rupp
Five takeaways from the game:
1. When the game was lost
Tech trailed 44-41 when Khalid Moore, moved from forward to the point to take ballhandling responsibilities off of guard Bubba Parham, hit a 3-pointer at the 13:50 mark of the second half. After a Kentucky turnover, guard Michael Devoe was open in the corner for a game-tying 3-pointer but missed. The next possession, Moore’s open look for 3 went in and out, then Devoe missed from 3 on the next trip down.
“Those three, if they make those three, they may have beat us,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said.
Devoe missed two shots near the basket on the possession after that. On the possession after that, Asanti Price was open for a 3 and missed. Moses Wright made a nice hustle play to keep the ball from going out of bounds. Price drove to the basket and missed on a reverse.
In five possessions, that was a potential 14 points on makeable shots that Tech went unclaimed. Kentucky only managed three points in that span, and Moore cut the lead back to four points at 47-43 when he ended the drought. But an opportunity had already been lost.
“We had some chances, but that was the game right there, when it was 44-41,” coach Josh Pastner.
2. Tough game for Michael Devoe
Devoe’s difficulties scoring were not just limited to that stretch. Devoe, who entered the game as the ACC’s leading scorer at 21.4 points per game, scored a season-low five points on 2-for-11 shooting, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range. Devoe, who was defended well by Kentucky guard Tyrese Maxey, had shots that he has typically made. He missed one 3-pointer from the wing in which he was so open that he set his feet and then paused an extra moment to gather himself before releasing. He had come into the game making 52.9 percent of his 3-point shots, which led the ACC.
Devoe was also the recipient of extra defensive attention in Tech’s last game, against Syracuse, when he scored seven on 2-for-12 shooting.
“I don’t know,” Pastner said. “It was just wide-open shots. You’ve got to make them. He’ll make them, but he’s been shooting at a high clip. But it just kind of is what it is. Those were great looks. They just didn’t fall.”
3. Another effective defensive game
For the most part, Tech defended fairly well. The Wildcats’ offensive efficiency, per KenPom, was 99.7, their third lowest of the season and their turnover percentage (23.8 percent) was their highest of the season.
It was a marked turnaround of the Jackets' play against Syracuse last Saturday, when the Orange shredded the Jackets in a 97-63 defeat that was the team's most decisive home loss since January 1981. Pastner called the loss an "anomaly."
Pastner said the team’s defensive play “gave us a chance, which we do almost every time we play. We’ve got to score better and make free throws and not turn it over.” Tech’s pattern of undoing does not come as a surprise to those who have watched the team play.
Last season, Tech was 43rd in defensive efficiency but finished with 14-18 because the Jackets were 228th in offensive efficiency, last in the ACC by a wide margin.
4. Double-double for Wright
Wright led Tech in scoring with 13 points on 6-for-11 shooting, showing a nice touch in the post with both hands. He also had a team-high 13 rebounds for his second career double-double. However, with one more rebound against Nebraska and also against Syracuse, Saturday would have been Wright’s fourth consecutive double-double.
Pastner, however, also noted his four turnovers, tying with Devoe for most on the team. The Jackets had 17 turnovers, which, given the team’s difficulties scoring when it did actually get shots up on the rim, went a long way to eating up the team’s margin for error.
To an extent, it reflected Kentucky’s defensive excellence but also, again, Tech’s continued difficulty in valuing possessions. The Jackets gave away possessions in a number of ways — shot-clock violations, bad passes, a five-second violations and others.
Tech is averaging 17.4 turnovers per game, which is in the bottom five percentile in Division I.
5. Usher’s transfer year over
Saturday was the final game that transfer guard Jordan Usher will have to sit out after transferring last January from USC. Usher will be eligible to play in Wedneday’s game against Ball State. Pastner said prior to the Kentucky game that the Jackets would have been 5-2 at worst had Usher been available instead of 4-3 and possibly 6-1.
At the same time that Usher will become eligible, the team will be without sophomore forward Kristian Sjolund at least for the Ball State game. Sjolund, who is redshirting this season, put his name into the transfer portal this past week and will return home to the Houston area Sunday to consider his options. Both sides have emphasized that Sjolund is happy at Tech and likes Pastner.
Point guard Jose Alvarado continued to watch from the bench with an ankle injury. Pastner is planning for him to return Dec. 31 at Florida State.
