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  • After Plenty of Back-and-Forth, Georgia Tech Barely Edges Rival Georgia to Win, 79-77

After Plenty of Back-and-Forth, Georgia Tech Barely Edges Rival Georgia to Win, 79-77

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Basketball

In a game that featured 11 ties and 18 lead changes, Georgia Tech scored the final six points – including Miles Kelly’s go-ahead runner with 23 seconds to go – to lift the Yellow Jackets to a 79-77 win over archrival Georgia in a wild men’s basketball edition of Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate on Tuesday night at McCamish Pavilion.

Trailing 77-73 with just 1:04 remaining, Kelly hit a long 3-pointer to pull Georgia Tech (6-3) within a point then after a Deivon Smith steal on Georgia’s ensuing possession, Kelly hit the go-ahead jumper while floating down the left side of the paint to give the Yellow Jackets a 78-77 lead.

Needing a stop, Tech’s Jalon Moore came up huge on the defensive end, first blocking a shot, then stealing an in-bounds pass to give the Jackets possession with a one-point lead and seven seconds left on the clock.

After Moore made 1-of-2 free throws to extend the Jackets’ lead to 79-77, Smith turned in Georgia Tech’s third-straight gargantuan defensive play, drawing a charge from Georgia’s Terry Roberts to give the Jackets the ball back with two seconds to go. UGA stole Tech’s in-bounds pass near midcourt, but its desperation shot was off the mark at the buzzer and the Jackets celebrated their second-straight win over their in-state rival.

The wild game lived up to its rivalry status, especially in the second half, when the teams traded punches throughout. UGA led 39-34 at halftime, but the teams would go on to trade the lead a whopping 15 times in the second half alone, to go along with seven ties after the break. During one four-minute stretch from 9:32 to go to the 5:32 mark, the teams combined to make 12-of-13 field-goal attempts. That four-minute stretch alone featured seven lead changes and three ties.

Tech shot 57.7 percent from the field in the second half to outduel UGA, which shot 51.7 percent after the break. The Yellow Jackets turned the ball over just seven times (compared to 11 for the Bulldogs) and recorded seven steals (versus two for UGA).

Kelly led Tech with a game-high 17 points, while Ja’Von Franklin (13 points), Moore (12) and Smith (10) rounded out the four Jackets in double-figures. Franklin also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, falling just one board shy of his third double-double of the season.

Georgia Tech opens Atlantic Coast Conference play on Saturday when it visits 2022 national finalist and preseason No. 1 North Carolina. Tipoff is set for 3:15 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN.