An incredible late rally fell just short for Georgia Tech basketball in the opening round of the 2022 New York Life Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, as the Yellow Jackets cut a 27-point second-half deficit to all the way down to five, but comeback fell just short in a 84-74 loss to Louisville on Tuesday night at the Barclays Center.

Louisville controlled the action for much of the first 30 minutes of the game and led 67-40 with 12:07 to go. But Georgia Tech, the reigning ACC champion, would not go down without a fight, as it outscored the Cardinals 28-6 over the next 9:10 to cut the deficit all the way to five points at 73-68 with 2:57 remaining. The 28-6 spurt was kick-started by a 19-0 run.

Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets, the rally ran out of steam, as Jarrod West made 3-pointers for Louisville on each of its next two possessions after Tech had drawn within five and the Cardinals pulled away down the stretch.

For the game, Georgia Tech and Louisville were nearly identical in field goal percentage (UL – 48%; GT – 47%) but the Cardinals held a 38-28 advantage in rebounds, including a 12-5 edge on the offensive boards, which led to UL outscoring the Jackets by a 12-4 margin on second-chance points.

Playing in his final game for the White and Gold, Jordan Usher scored a team-high-tying 19 points. Freshman Miles Kelly matched Usher with a career-high 19 points, which came on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 efficiency from 3-point range. Michael Devoe added 15 points to round out three Yellow Jackets in double-figures.

Louisville’s West led all scorers with 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field (4-of-6 on 3-pointers).

After winning the 2021 ACC title and finishing with back-to-back above-.500 records in ACC play each of the last two seasons, Georgia Tech’s 2021-22 campaign came to a close with a 12-20 record.