Pittsburgh @ Georgia Tech preview
Hank McCamish Pavilion
Last Meeting ( Mar 4, 2020 ) Pittsburgh 57, Georgia Tech 73
Time is running out for Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh if they are to end their respective NCAA tournament droughts.
Georgia Tech has not made the tournament since the 2009-10 season.
On Sunday in Atlanta, the Yellow Jackets will host the Panthers -- another team desperate for a victory that hasn't made it to the Big Dance since the 2015-16 season.
The Yellow Jackets (9-8, 5-6 ACC) were seconds away from a resume-boosting win at Clemson on Friday before Tigers guard Nick Honor banked home a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left in a 74-72 loss.
Georgia Tech's Jose Alvarado missed a pair of free throws with 8.4 to go. Although they were his first attempts of the game, Alvarado had not missed consecutive free throws all season and was shooting 87.8 percent on free throws (43 of 49) coming into the game.
"We had our stud on the free-throw line and unfortunately, it just rimmed out on both of them and the kid hit a great shot," Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner said. "That's just the way the game goes. Sometimes the ball falls your way, sometimes it doesn't."
Alvarado, an ACC Player of the Year candidate averaging 17.1 points and 4.0 assists per game, finished with eight points on 3-for-11 shooting including 2-for-7 from 3-point range.
Michael Devoe picked up the slack with 23 points, six assists and a career-high five steals. But Georgia Tech struggled from 3-point range (5-for-19) just as it did earlier in the week against Virginia (4-for-21).
The Panthers (9-6, 5-5) might present an opportunity for Georgia Tech to fix its shooting woes.
Pitt opponents have been shooting 49.6 percent overall and 41.7 percent from 3-point range over their past five games.
The Panthers also missed an opportunity to strengthen their tournament case in their last game -- a 73-66 loss at Virginia on Feb. 6.
Justin Champagnie, another conference Player of the Year candidate, continued his productive season with 18 points and 10 rebounds. But the Panthers couldn't slow down the Cavaliers' 23-9 second-half surge, which helped them pull away.
Champagnie is averaging 19.2 points, 12.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. But against Georgia Tech's backcourt rotation of Alvarado, Devoe, Jordan Usher (11.4 points) and Bubba Parham (7.8 points), Pitt will need more on the offensive and defensive ends from its guards. Ithiel Horton scored 15 points but Au'Diese Toney (14.1 points) struggled with only eight points against Virginia.
"We've got to defend for 40 minutes," said guard Xavier Johnson, who is averaging 14.2 points per game. "That's not what we've been doing lately and that's why we haven't been winning the way we're supposed to."
--Field Level Media