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Georgia Tech Basketball: Jackets fall short in strong effort against Louisville

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - JANUARY 22: David Johnson #13 of the Louisville Cardinals shoots the ball against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at KFC YUM! Center on January 22, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - JANUARY 22: David Johnson #13 of the Louisville Cardinals shoots the ball against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at KFC YUM! Center on January 22, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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The Georgia Tech men’s basketball team took Louisville down to the wire but came up short in a 68-64 loss to the No.6 ranked Cardinals.

Georgia Tech probably could not have given the No.6 ranked Louisville Cardinals any more on Wednesday night in Louisville. The Yellow Jackets played one of their best games of the season against the Cardinals, taking them down to the wire.

The Jackets came out hot in the game and shot 61% in the first half, going back-and-forth with the Cardinals for most of the first half. The Jackets, however, would be able to find gather a bit of a lead at the end of the half and found themselves leading 38-32 at half time.

The second half was a bit of a different story, however, as the Yellow Jackets shooting cooled off a bit allowing Louisville to climb back into the lead and eventually give themselves enough separation and eventually the 68-64 win. The second half was simply just the Yellow Jackets not being able to continuously shoot at such a high pace.

Overall, the Jackets put in a strong effort offensively with four of their five starters scoring double-digit points. The lone starter who didn’t score double-digits was Jordan Usher who scored just seven points in the loss. The bad news for the Yellow Jackets is that they received absolute zero production from their bench with their five starters producing all 64 of their points.

Michael Devoe, who was questionable to play against the Cardinals put in a strong performance despite being banged up. Devoe, led all scorers for the game with 21-points while shooting 7-for-14 from the field including 2-for-6 from three-point range. He also shot 3-for-4 from the free-throw line in the game. Jose Alvardo also put in quite the performance, totaling 13 points and 10 rebounds in the game, it’s his first double-double of the season.

At the end of the day, Wednesday night’s loss to Louisville is a tough loss for the Yellow Jackets but surely is a game where the Jackets could build some momentum upon. If the Jackets want to make the NCAA Tournament, they’ll have to make quite the run through the rest of their schedule which is highly manageable.