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Georgia Tech Basketball: Jackets Pick Up Seventh Conference Win Over Wake Forest

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

CHAPEL HILL, NC - JANUARY 04: Head coach Josh Pastner of Georgia Tech during a game between Georgia Tech and North Carolina at Dean E. Smith Center on January 4, 2020 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Andy Mead/ISI Photos/Getty Images).
CHAPEL HILL, NC - JANUARY 04: Head coach Josh Pastner of Georgia Tech during a game between Georgia Tech and North Carolina at Dean E. Smith Center on January 4, 2020 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Andy Mead/ISI Photos/Getty Images). /
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The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets picked up their seventh conference win of the season on Tuesday night with a 86-79 win over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Despite allowing 50 second-half points on Tuesday night to Wake Forest, the Georgia Tech men’s basketball team got back to .500 on the season. Josh Pastner’s Georgia Tech men’s basketball program continued to play some of their best basketball of the season offensively on Tuesday in the victory.

It was a game that showed the dynamic abilities of Georgia Tech’s two most important players, Michael Devoe and Jose Alvarado. The pair of guards absolutely dominated Wake Forest throughout Tuesday night’s game combining for over half of the Yellow Jackets offense.

Devoe led the Yellow Jackets and all scorers offensively, finishing with 24-points on 9-of-14 shooting including 2-for-4 from beyond the arch. He contributed five rebounds and five assists in the win as well.

Alvarado, on the other hand, had a great game of his own, finishing with 22-points. He shot 4-for-10 from the floor and was only 1-for-3 from three-point range but he did dominate at the free throw line. The Demon Deacons sent Alvarado to the line for 15 shot attempts throughout the game and Alvarado took as much of advantage as he could, hitting 13 of his 15 attempts.

While Alvarado and Devoe both had outstanding performances and were by far the best players on the court, it was an entire team effort for the Yellow Jackets in the victory. In total, four different Jackets ended the game in double-digits. Also hitting the double-digits plateau was Moses Wright with 14 points and Jordan Usher with an even 10.

Overall, the Jackets had one of their best shooting performances of the season against the Demon Deacons, shooting 52% from the field, making 26-of-50 shot attempts. They also were 29-for-39 from the free throw line, a season high in free throws made this season.

It wasn’t the Yellow Jackets best effort defensively on Tuesday night as five different Demon Deacons ended in double digits. After keeping Wake Forest to 29-points in the first half, the Jackets allowed 50 points in the second half.  The most points the Jackets have allowed in one half this season. Luckily for the Yellow Jackets, the offense was rolling and there was no chance of Wake Forest stopping them, the Jackets scored 49-points of their own in the second half.

Tuesday night’s victory is a huge one for the Yellow Jackets as it gets them back to .500 overall on the season and keeps them alive in their hopes of making the NCAA Tournament. While still an uphill battle, they’ll have their fair chances to make run here in the remaining weeks.

It also marked the seventh conference win of the season for the Jackets as we mentioned earlier. That means the Jackets must win three of their last five games in order to win 10 or more conference games for the first time since 1995-96.

The Yellow Jackets will look for their eighth conference win of the year on Saturday afternoon when they take on the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. Tipoff is currently scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. Fans can watch the game via ACC Network Extra or by listening to it via WRECK 91.1.