|
 In the end it was the big baskets by guard Terry Rozier that made
the difference. The sophomore scored 22 points, including the
go-ahead basket with 20 seconds remaining, as 12th-ranked Louisville
erased a 13-point second-half deficit to beat Georgia Tech 52-51 on
Monday.
"There's only one way to get hot in basketball and that's to shoot
the ball," Pitino said. "Terry Rozier took it to heart because he
had a first half that wasn't going his way and he just played
brilliant in the second half."
Rozier had only four points at halftime, but made 7 of 12 shots from
the field in the second half to spark the Cardinals (22-6, 10-5
ACC).
"Rozier took the game over in the second half," Georgia Tech coach
Brian Gregory said. "That's why they're projecting him as a top 15
pick in the draft."
Georgia Tech (12-16, 3-13 ACC) was led by forward Marcus
Georges-Hunt, who had 13 points, five rebounds, three assists, two
blocks and one steal. But he also turned it over six times and made
only 3 of 8 shots from the line.
"We ask a lot of Marcus to be the go-to guy for us," Gregory said.
"Against this team he had to handle the ball a lot, make shots, and
on the other end defend their best player in Rozier. He's challenged
quite a bit in every area, but he kept coming back."
Louisville trailed 24-17 at halftime and cut the lead to three with
two quick baskets following the break, but Georgia Tech answered and
stretched its lead to nine when center Demarco Cox followed a missed
shot with a basket. The Yellow Jackets continued to match the
Cardinals basket-for-basket and retained a nine-point lead.
Georgia Tech wasn't finished building the lead. The Yellow Jackets
completed a 7-1 run on a basket by Cox that pushed the lead to 13
points at 41-28 with 9:38 remaining.
That's when Louisville started its comeback. The Cardinals answered
with back-to-back 3-pointers from Rozier and guard Anton Gill. That
led to a 14-2 run, with forward Wayne Blackshear's trey making it
41-39 with 6:42 left.
"Like most of our games, we come alive shooting the ball in the
second half," Pitino said. "I was surprised because of the amount of
pressure we put defensively that we had those legs in the second
half."
Louisville finally tied it on a 3-pointer by Blackshear, which
knotted the scored a 46-46 with 1:35 remaining. The Cardinals took
the lead on a drive by Rozier with 59 seconds left, but Georges-Hunt
scored to tie the game for about two seconds, as Rozier quickly
answered with the bucket that put Louisville ahead to stay.
[to top of second column]
|
Georgia Tech guard Travis Jorgenson drove to the basket in an
attempt to tie the game, but had his shot blocked by center Chinanu
Onuaku. Blackshear controlled the rebound and made two free throws
with five seconds left to put the game out of reach.
"I'm as proud of this basketball team as any I've ever coached,"
Pitino said. "These guys kept their attitude focused on one thing:
winning the game."
Louisville also got 10 points and eight rebounds from Blackshear and
eight points and eight rebounds from forward Montrezl Harrell.
Georgia Tech got 11 points and 11 rebounds from Cox. Forward Charles
Mitchell matched his season high with 14 rebounds.
"They made timely 3s and got timely offensive rebounds in the second
half, and unfortunately we weren't able to do the same," Gregory
said.
NOTES: In an effort to explain the decision to dismiss G Chris Jones
from the team, Louisville issued a report that said the senior
threatened his girlfriend. Jones was suspended for the Feb. 18 game
against Syracuse, which Louisville lost, but was reinstated Saturday
and scored 17 points in a win over Miami. Jones was averaging 13.7
points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists. He was replaced in the
starting lineup by Shaqquan Aaron, a 6-foot-7 freshman who averages
1.7 points. ... The teams met for the first time as ACC rivals. The
schools competed against each other in the old Metro Conference in
the 1970s. ... Louisville plays Saturday at Florida State. Georgia
Tech plays at Clemson on Saturday.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
