Georgia Tech fans storm court after upset victory over North Carolina
Georgia Tech and North Carolina went back-and-forth throughout Tuesday night’s game, which was tied at halftime. The Yellow Jackets looked like they could steal a victory over the No. 3-ranked Tar Heels, but they ended up losing the lead with less than a minute to play.
Then, Naithan George drove to the rim and made the shot to give Georgia Tech the lead with 4.7 seconds left. Hubert Davis called a timeout, but North Carolina came up empty out of the huddle. The Yellow Jackets got the 74-73 victory, marking their second victory over an ACC power at home this year.
Then, the celebration began as the fans stormed the court.
Kyle Sturdivant led Georgia Tech with 18 points and George wasn’t far behind him with 16 — including the biggest two of the game. The Yellow Jackets also made some big plays on defense, holding North Carolina to just 36.4% shooting from the floor and 28.4% from three-point territory.
North Carolina had the game’s largest lead with an 11-point advantage in the first half, but Georgia Tech didn’t back down and wound up tying things up as George made a layup at the last second. The Yellow Jackets led by as many as eight points after the break, but the Tar Heels didn’t back down and eventually took a lead when RJ Davis made a tough shot with 34 seconds to play.
Undeterred, Georgia Tech drove back down the court and George came up with the biggest play of the game.
By beating North Carolina on Tuesday, Georgia Tech now has victories over both the Tar Heels and Duke on its home court. The Yellow Jackets now improve to 10-11 overall and 3-7 in conference play with the victory, while UNC drops to 17-4 overall with its first conference loss of the year.
Conference play hasn’t been easy for Damon Stoudemire, who’s in his first season at Georgia Tech after replacing Josh Pastner. It started with an 8-3 record through the non-conference schedule — along with the Duke victory in December — but the Yellow Jackets lost their first four ACC games after the calendar flipped to 2024.
Georgia Tech will look to get back to .500 on Saturday when the Yellow Jackets head to NC State. As for North Carolina, a huge game awaits this weekend. The Tar Heels return home to take on Duke with College GameDay in attendance for what’s looking like a pivotal top-10 showdown in a year filled with upsets.