Field Level Media
Mar 4, 2020
Jose Alvarado scored 23 points, and Georgia Tech won its home finale with a 73-57, wire-to-wire win over Pittsburgh on Wednesday in Atlanta.
Alvarado shot 8-for-16 from the field, 5-for-5 from the foul line, and had nine rebounds, five assists and two steals to help guarantee a winning season for Georgia Tech (16-14, 10-9 ACC) for the first time since 2016-17.
Georgia Tech finishes the campaign at Clemson on Friday. The Yellow Jackets announced Tuesday they would drop an appeal of their NCAA penalties and will not participate in the ACC tournament.
The victory was the seventh straight at home for Georgia Tech and enabled the Yellow Jackets to split the two-games series with the Panthers. It was the sixth straight home ACC win for Georgia Tech, its longest streak since 1995-96. The Yellow Jackets are guaranteed their first .500-plus conference record since 2006-07.
Pitt, which won't play again until the ACC tournament next week, lost for the seventh consecutive game.
Georgia Tech also got 13 points from Michael Devoe and 10 points apiece from Jordan Usher and Evan Cole. James Banks III, playing his final home game on Senior Night, scored only two points but had nine rebounds and four blocked shots.
Pitt (15-16, 6-14) was led Atlanta native Eric Hamilton with 12 points and nine rebounds. But Georgia Tech did a better job on Justin Champagnie. The freshman scored 30 against them the first time but was held to 11 points on 2-for-8 shooting Wednesday.
Alvarado scored 10 in the first half to help Georgia Tech take the lead. The Yellow Jackets built a 30-12 edge when Alvarado completed a fastbreak with a basket at the 3:41 mark. However, Pitt made three consecutive 3-pointers to end the half and cut the deficit to 30-21.
Pitt got as close as four points with 16:43 left, but Georgia Tech responded with an 8-0 run that was finished with a dunk by Banks. Pitt never again got closer than 10 points.
--Field Level Media