Losing streak grows to 10 as Jackets fall 80-71 to Florida State

After going down big in the first half, Georgia Tech battled back to within two early in the second half, but a more than eight-minute field goal drought doomed the comeback chances as the Jackets fell 80-71 to Florida State on Saturday at McCamish Pavilion with the losing streak growing to 10 games for Damon Stoudamire‘s bunch.

The Seminoles built as much as a 16-point lead in the opening half before Tech (11-18, 2-14 ACC) closed the first half on a 12-1 run to pull within five at the half. The Jackets then got as close as two early in the second half, but Tech went without a field goal made from the 14:29 mark to the 5:52 mark as Florida State was able to take control of the game once again. Tech never got closer than nine of the lead again.

“We had our moments. We played well in the first half. We ended that first half with a 12-1 run, and that was probably the first time in a long time, I can remember, that we actually had a run to end the half. Usually it’s something that happens to us where we can’t finish a half. But it was good to see,” said Stoudamire after the loss that closed out a winless February for the Jackets. “And, you know, we go in the half and we’re feeling good about ourselves. And the game was going back and forth a bit. Then I thought personally there’s two plays where I thought the game kind of got away from us. It’s unfortunate, but it’s been like that. We haven’t been able to fight through adversity a lot of times. But I think it was two straight turnovers we had, and they ran out and scored. And you know, we couldn’t withstand it. The game was still a striking distance, but we never could get it over the hump.”

Florida State (15-14, 8-8 ACC) was led by Robert McCray V with a game-high 20 points, including making three 3-pointers, to go with five assists and four rebounds. Thomas Bassong finished with a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, seven of those being offensive.

Chauncey Wiggins, the former Grayson (Ga.) and Clemson standout, added 12 points for the third Seminole in double figures, and Martin Somerville scored nine. Alex Steen and AJ Swinton each scored seven with Steen contributing eight rebounds.

Lajae Jones also had seven rebounds as the Seminoles won the rebounding battle 44-34 overall (18 offensive rebounds) as well as forcing Georgia Tech into 17 turnovers and outscoring the Jackets 38-14 in the paint, 18-4 on second-chance points and 17-2 on the fast break.

“Like I said, we had our moments, but we couldn’t, again…we had some wide-open shots we missed,” said Stoudamire. “We had some botched defensive assignments. They had 18 offensive rebounds. We couldn’t get to the glass. We couldn’t keep them off the glass, and that hurts you as well. So you’re giving them a second-chance opportunity. From the sideline, when you actually look at the game, the game feels funny when guys hit 3s, but then you look up and they only made seven 3s. We didn’t do a good job, again, on those missed shots…we didn’t do a good job of boxing out. And the game, again, the game just kind of gets away from you there.”

Georgia Tech had four scorers in double figures led by Kowacie Reeves Jr. with 17 points, including making three 3s. Jaeden Mustaf added 16 points and seven rebounds, and Akai Fleming and Kam Craft each scored 15 points with all of Craft’s coming on his five made 3s.

Baye Ndongo was held scoreless on just one field goal attempt in the loss as he missed most of the first half in foul trouble and eventually fouled out in the second half with around five minutes remaining.

“Well, you know, the reality of it in a game like this, if you’re going to play a big, you need your bigs to kind of dominate the glass or have a big advantage in some area,” said Stoudamire. “And we weren’t getting that with Baye, you know, in the foul trouble and all that stuff. So I went small a little bit. And, you know, we got some mileage out of that. That’s not a recipe I think. This was a game that you can do that, you know, but at the same time too, they put a lot of pressure on you because other than Steen, most of those guys are 3-point shooters…at least capable of making the shot. And so it makes it hard to leave bigs on the floor at times like that.”

The Seminoles got off to a quick start, leading 9-2 early on before a pair of Georgia Tech 3s by Mustaf and Chas Kelley III closed the deficit to 12-8 at the first media timeout of the game and two more by the Jackets (Kelley and Fleming) making the deficit 20-14 at the second media timeout.

A 6-0 run by Florida State pushed the lead to 26-14 to force Stoudamire to use his first timeout to try to stop the momentum at the 8:34 mark of the first half.

The Seminoles went on to build as much as a 16-point lead before taking a 41-36 advantage to the locker room at the break in large part due to a 12-1 run in total and 8-0 run by Tech to end the half. Mustaf and McCray each led their respective team at the break with 10 points apiece.

The Jackets made seven 3-pointers in the first half while holding Florida State to 4-of-15 from beyond the arc which has been an issue of late for the Georgia Tech defense.

Georgia Tech carried the momentum over into the second half, cutting the deficit to two at one point early on before Florida State took a 53-50 lead into the first media timeout of the half at the 14:04 mark.

A field goal drought of more than eight minutes followed for Tech as Florida State was able to push the lead back out to double digits before Kam Craft made a 3 to cut the deficit to 68-58 with 5:52 remaining. Tech never got closer than nine for the rest of the game.

Georgia Tech will be back at McCamish Pavilion on Wednesday night for its final home game of the season as California comes to town for a 7 p.m. tip.

“Guys played hard (today). You know, the effort was there,” said Stoudamire. “The execution was there at times. At other times it wasn’t. But, you know, it gets frustrating, obviously. And you can’t really do anything but continue to fight. The one thing I always say, the best people I’ve been around, whether it’s going good for you or whether it’s going bad for you, you always got to have a balance to what you’re doing, period. So you’ve got to be able to take the highs with the lows, okay? And you’ve just got to understand that that’s part of it. If you’re around this enough, it’s part of it. But, you know, the fellows did, again, they did what they needed to do. But we just couldn’t get over the hump. And, again, you know, everybody’s frustrated, but we’ve just got to continue to work and come back at it on Wednesday.”

“I’m going to come to work every day,” added Stoudamire. “You’re going to scheme. You’re going to, you know, you’re going to do everything you need to do. But what guys have to do and they have to realize is that at some point…we use the word pride, but at some point you just, you’ve got to stand for something. I think you play for the front of your jersey, you know, and then at some point you’ve got to play for the back of your jersey too. Right? And so that doesn’t always mean points. That doesn’t always mean assist. That doesn’t always mean rebounds. It just means going out there, playing hard, giving maximum effort. And that’s, that’s all I’m looking for in the next week. It’s not about anything more, anything less. There’s still something that’s out there for you. So, you know, just go out there and protect yourself. Play hard. Do the right things. And don’t embarrass yourself while you’re out there.” 

After the Cal matchup on Wednesday, Georgia Tech travels to Clemson for a noon tip next Saturday. Even with wins in their final two games, the Jackets would need a lot of help to qualify for the ACC Tournament in Charlotte the following week.

Florida State is on the road once again Wednesday for a 9 p.m. tip.