Georgia Tech grits out tough win at Pittsburgh

Duncan Powell scored a career-high 26 points and had a career-high six 3-pointers. Tech needed every bit of those points as its already-small lineup shrunk even more when forward Ibrahim Souare appeared to hurt his right knee in the first half. Guard Jaeden Mustaf then fouled out in the second half.

But the Jackets showed some resiliency, sinking shot after shot from the line as Pitt continued to mount rally after rally. The Panthers came back from down 67-61 to tie to the game at 67-all with 1:15 on the clock, but they wouldn’t score again.

“It’s by failure, because we didn’t do it earlier in the year,” Stoudamire said on his team coming through in late-game situations. “We’ve gotten better over the course of this season. You gotta get your team to play hard, be connected, do all those things, and then you gotta get ‘em to play smart. You gotta get ‘em to play with toughness. And then you gotta get ‘em to learn how to win.

“There were plays that we made that, honestly, we didn’t do that early in the season. You see a lot of carryover, you see a lot of growth in guys.”

Lance Terry scored 20 for Tech in the win. Baye Ndongo recorded yet another double-double with 17 rebounds and 11 points and Nait George scored 16 to go along with six assists. Nobody else entered the scoring column for Tech.

The Jackets were dominant on the boards with 37 rebounds, 11 on the offensive end. Tech also had 17 second-chance points.

Tuesday’s victory allowed Tech to maintain its spot in eighth place in the ACC standings with three games to go. The Jackets host North Carolina State (11-16, 4-12) at 3 p.m. Saturday.

“We’ve come a long ways this season,” Stoudamire added. “And we’re not done.”

The Jackets came out as a totally different team than the one who took the floor days earlier at Boston College. They built a 17-8 lead through eight minutes, had an 11-2 rebounding lead and four assists on seven field goals. When Terry hit a 3 from the right side at the 11:17 mark, Tech was enjoying a 20-8 advantage.

Pitt slowly began to find its offensive form and crept back into the contest thanks to guards Ishmael Leggett and Jaland Lowe. Leggett’s 3 from the left corner made it a 25-21 game and a layup from Lowe made it 27-23. Lowe’s jumper with 2:39 to play in the half had Pitt within 30-27.

But Tech counterpunched with a 3 from Terry and a pair of Powell free throws. Zack Austin’s triple at the halftime buzzer made it a 35-30 ballgame at the break.

Terry and Powell combined for 27 through 20 minutes and Tech registered nine assists on its 13 made shots. Stoudamire said he challenged Powell and Terry during Tuesday morning’s shootaround.

“I loved it. I’m glad to have a coach that challenges me, than not,” Terry said. “He challenged me on the defensive end so I just went out there and tried to do better than what I’ve been doing and give more effort than what I was.”

Tech started the second half missing five of its first seven shots, but Powell swished a 3 to make it a 42-35 game. Powell made yet another 3, this one from the left corner that drew a foul, and he completed the four-point play putting the Jackets up 46-37.

Powell’s second four-point play came less than four minutes later and from the exact spot on the floor. That put the Jackets ahead 52-43 with 10:53 remaining.

“Coach Dame (Stoudamire), before the game, he told me don’t get in my own head,” Powell said. “Last I was with Darrion Sutton, Nait George in the hotel, they was telling me how good I am and how much they like playing with me. They know I’m real hard on myself. My team just breathes confidence into me the whole time, for real. They just told me to shoot. They get mad at me when I don’t shoot. I get yelled at by (George) for not shooting. I don’t wanna get yelled at.”

Pitt, meanwhile, was slogging its way through a stretch of 5:31 without connecting on a field goal. But the Panthers hung around thanks to making their own shots at the free throw line, then got within 56-54 when Lowe splashed a 3 from the right wing with 6 1/2 minutes to play.

Brandin Cummings finally gave the Panthers the lead (it’s first since being ahead 2-0) with 5:34 to play when he connected on a right corner 3. But Tech sank seven free throws in 73 seconds to build a 65-59 lead setting up the final 3:56 of the game.

Pittsburgh (16-12, 7-10), which dropped to 4-10 over its last 14, got 25 points from Lowe and 20 from Leggett in the loss. It wasn’t enough, and Powell let the home fans know as much when the exits began to fill.

“Everywhere we go they talk about my haircut and all that. And I ain’t had a haircut in like a month so I know I look crazy,” Powell said. “I like to interact with the crowd, especially on the road because they troll me a lot. So I troll ‘em back.”