Georgia Tech Basketball: Jackets win 52-51 thriller over Northwestern

The Yellow Jackets helped preserve the reputation of the Thrillerdome Tuesday night, edging the Wildcats with an instant classic finish.

Georgia Tech (4-1) took on Northwestern 52-51 in this year’s installment of the ACC-Big Ten challenge and it wouldn’t be a game at McCamish without a thrilling finish.

The Jackets, down by one with only a few seconds left to play, had to travel the length of the court for their final possession. Tadric Jackson, fresh off suspension, finished off his 10-point effort with a layup as the clock expired to give his team a one-point win.

It was a low-scoring affair overall with the Yellow Jackets taking a 28-22 lead into the half, but Northwestern came fighting back down the stretch in the second to push it to the wire. Tech was actually outscored 29-24 in the second half.

Ben Lammers had another solid outing, posting 13 points, a block, a steal, an assist and six rebounds on the night.

Curtis Haywood II also continued his steady play, scoring ten points and bringing down six rebounds of his own. Abdoulaye Gueye only had five points on offense, but also had six rebounds, and had a pair of blocks.

It should also be noted that Tech grabbed a win on the inaugural Josh Pastner wig night, an occasion marked by the handing out of curly black wigs to students and other fans. Some of his players had a little fun with the novelty item prior to the matchup with the Wildcats, doing impressions of their coach.

https://twitter.com/GTAthletics/status/935257320413474816

The Jackets only hit 36 percent of field goals in the first half and 38.9 percent in the second. Tech lost the battle for field goal percentage, and three point percentage to the Wildcats, but helped themselves by going 75 percent from the free throw line.

Next: Georgia Tech Football: A decade of Paul Johnson in review

Georgia Tech gets back to action Friday night at 7:30 ET as the Yellow Jackets host the Grambling Tigers out of the SWAC.