Pitt’s first opponent in the 2023 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament will be Georgia Tech (15-17, 6-14), following their 61-60 last second win over Florida State (9-23, 7-13).
The Yellow Jackets trailed Florida State, 31-21 at halftime but went on to outscore them 40-29 in the second half to advance to tomorrow’s match-up against Pitt.
With the score tied at 60-60, Georgia Tech’s Ja’von Franklin was fouled with 0.02 left in the game and he made the first three throw to secure the win.
In terms of the stat line for Georgia Tech, Franklin finished the game with 10 points and 19 rebounds, Miles Kelly was GT’s leading scorer with 21 points and Deebo Coleman was in double figures with 10 points.
Considering they’re playing back-to-back games, one statistic to keep in mind is that Josh Pastner played only six players today. The only player he used off the bench was Jalon Moore, who played only seven minutes.
Georgia Tech has been playing well down the stretch, having now won six of their last seven games.
Tomorrow’s matchup will be the third time Pitt has played Georgia Tech this season, with the Panthers winning each of the first two games.
Back on January 14, Pitt won 71-60. In that game, Georgia Tech connected on 12 three-pointers and were led in scoring by Deivon Smith with 15 points.
The Panthers had four players in double figures with Nike Sibande leading the way with 21 points, followed by Jamarius Burton with 19, Blake Hinson with 13 and Nelly Cumming with 11.
In the second matchup, Pitt won 76-68 as Cummings scored a game-high 22 points, followed by Hinson with 19, Federiko Federiko with 14 and Burton with 12.
Game three between this two teams will be tomorrow afternoon with a tipoff scheduled for 2:30 PM.
6-man rotation…. team minutes, 40, 40, 39, 37, 37 and 7. ouch. let’s hope there are some rubbery legs tomorrow afternoon.
Expect GT to take an early lead. Usually what happens in the league tournaments. Then …