Darius Maddox, Nahiem Alleyne and Keve Aluma all scored 12 points and Virginia Tech overcame a ragged offensive performance for a key road victory by defeating Georgia Tech 62-58 on Wednesday night at Atlanta.
Despite shooting 39 percent from the field, the Hokies (17-11, 9-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) won for the seventh time in their last eight games as they try to build credentials toward an NCAA Tournament bid.
Georgia Tech (11-17, 4-13) fell to 8-9 in home games, including 2-7 in ACC outings. Michael Devoe's 18 points, Jordan Usher's 11 points and Rodney Howard's eight points led the Yellow Jackets.
The Hokies often shoot well from 3-point range, but they were just 3-for-17 before hitting three of their next five and finishing 6-for-24 from long range.
The Yellow Jackets had a stretch of more than seven minutes that they scored only three points, beginning with just less than 14 minutes to play.
Still, they trimmed a 59-46 hole to 59-56 on Devoe's three-point play with 1:20 to play. After a Virginia Tech turnover, Khalid Moore missed a shot for the Yellow Jackets and Aluma converted at the other end with 13 seconds left.
Virginia Tech also beat the Yellow Jackets earlier this month, though Devoe racked up 30 points in that game.
The teams played a 7 1/2-minute stretch of the second half with the margin no larger than two points. Then Maddox drained a 3-pointer and another jumper in a 32-second span, pushing the Hokies to a 48-41 edge.
When Maddox added a three-point play at the 8:32 mark, the advantage grew to 51-43. The lead swelled to 54-43 on Alleyne's 3-pointer.
Led by Maddox, Virginia Tech reserves outscored Georgia Tech's backups by 25-13.
Despite not scoring in the game's first three minutes, Georgia Tech built an eight-point lead and led 34-30 at halftime.
Georgia Tech concluded a grueling stretch that included three games in five nights, including Monday's 74-73 overtime loss at Syracuse. That came after a victory Saturday at Pittsburgh, with a bus trip to Syracuse because of trouble with the team's aircraft.
--Field Level Media
Virginia Tech | Georgia Tech | |
Nahiem Alleyne 12 | Scoring | Michael Devoe 18 |
Hunter Cattoor 3 | Assists | Michael Devoe 3 |
Keve Aluma 10 | Rebounds | Michael Devoe 5 |
Keve Aluma 4 | Free Throws Made | Michael Devoe 2 |
Nahiem Alleyne 2 | Steals | Jordan Usher 3 |
Keve Aluma 1 | Blocks | Jalon Moore 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Virginia Tech | 62 | 39.0 | 6-24 | 10-14 | 13 | 34 | 2 | 8 | 13 |
Georgia Tech | 58 | 43.4 | 4-13 | 8-11 | 10 | 26 | 4 | 7 | 11 |