Ky Bowman produced 26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to help Boston College cruise to an 87-77 victory over Georgia Tech on Tuesday in the opening round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Nik Popovic added a career-best 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting and the 12th-seeded Eagles (18-14) never trailed at Barclays Center. Jerome Robinson scored 19 points and Jordan Chatman had 13 for Boston College, which held a 47-37 rebounding edge.

Tadric Jackson matched his career high of 29 points -- he scored 23 in the second half -- for 13th-seeded Georgia Tech (13-19). Ben Lammers had 18 points and Josh Okogie had 14.

Boston College faces fifth-seeded North Carolina State in Wednesday's second round.

The Eagles shot 46.7 percent from the field and were 2 of 14 from 3-point range. The Yellow Jackets shot 39.7 percent from the field and were 5 of 20 from long range.

Bowman scored 11 of the Eagles' first 17 second-half points and he ended up with 18 points after halftime.

Bowman's layup capped a 10-3 opening burst of the second half to give Boston College a 44-29 lead with 16:17 remaining. He later converted a three-point play to push the advantage to 51-31 with 13:36 to go.

The Yellow Jackets used a 9-2 run to pull within 13 with 11:39 remaining.

But Boston College again responded as Robinson's 3-pointer made it 60-43 with 8:59 remaining and Popovic later scored back-to-back hoops for a 66-47 lead with seven minutes left.

Georgia Tech soon put together its top stretch of the game by going on a 14-4 run to pull within 72-65 on Jackson's dunk with 2:31 remaining.

The Yellow Jackets trailed 81-75 after Jackson's 3 with 45.6 seconds left before the Eagles scored six straight to put the game away.

Bowman contributed eight points, six rebounds and five assists in the opening half as Boston College led 36-26 at the break.

The Eagles already possessed a 13-4 lead just 6 1/2 minutes into the contest.

Georgia Tech was within 17-13 after two free throws from Lammers with 8:58 remaining in the half before Boston College again began stretching out the margin. Chatman's jumper made it 28-19 with 5:20 left and Bowman later provided a layup to make it 32-22 with 2:10 to play.

--Field Level Media