Senior guard Michael Devoe scored a career-high 37 points and Jordan Usher added 21 to lead Georgia Tech to an 88-78 victory over host Georgia in Athens, Ga., on Friday night, ending the Yellow Jackets' five-game losing streak to the Bulldogs.
After the Yellow Jackets (3-1) took their largest lead of the game at 57-47 following Devoe's 3-pointer with 13:30 left, the Bulldogs went on a 26-14 run to take a 73-71 lead on Jailyn Ingram's short jumper with 4:34 remaining.
But the Yellow Jackets maintained their composure. They countered with an 8-0 run to take a 79-73 lead they wouldn't relinquish on Devoe's jumper with 2:25 remaining.
Rodney Howard had eight points and seven rebounds before fouling out with 2:11 remaining, while Deivon Smith added seven points.
Devoe shot 14-for-18 from the floor, including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc, in addition to posting seven rebounds and five assists.
Devoe's previous career high was 34, which he scored in the Yellow Jackets' last loss to Georgia in 2019. The intra-state rivals didn't play last year because due to coronavirus-impacted scheduling.
The Yellow Jackets shot 60.7 percent (34-for-56) from the floor and 53.3 percent (8-for-15) from 3-point range. They outrebounded the Bulldogs 35-26 and converted 14 Bulldogs turnovers into 17 points.
Aaron Cook scored 18 points on 6-for-13 shooting, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range, for the Bulldogs (2-2), who also got 17 points from Ingram and 10 from Jabri Abdur-Rahim.
Georgia shot 50.9 percent (29-for-57) from the field and 47.1 percent (8-for-17) from distance, but the Bulldogs' downfall was making just 12 of 24 free-throw attempts.
Georgia Tech closed the first half on a 20-10 run in the final six-plus minutes to take a 41-36 lead at halftime.
Devoe scored 19 first-half points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field, including a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range, to lead the Yellow Jackets, who shot 60 percent (15-for-25) from the field and 3-point line (6-for-10) in the first 20 minutes.
Georgia shot 50 percent (13-for-26) from the floor and 44.3 percent (4-for-9) from distance, but the Bulldogs were an abysmal 6-for-15 from the free-throw line in the first half.
--Field Level Media
Georgia Tech | Georgia | |
Michael Devoe 37 | Scoring | Aaron Cook 18 |
Michael Devoe 5 | Assists | Aaron Cook 6 |
Michael Devoe 7 | Rebounds | Jailyn Ingram 6 |
Michael Devoe 5 | Free Throws Made | Jaxon Etter 3 |
Michael Devoe 2 | Steals | Jabri Abdur-Rahim 1 |
Jordan Usher 2 | Blocks | Kario Oquendo 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Georgia Tech | 88 | 60.7 | 8-15 | 12-17 | 17 | 33 | 4 | 8 | 15 |
Georgia | 78 | 50.9 | 8-17 | 12-24 | 16 | 22 | 1 | 4 | 14 |