NCAA men: Georgia Tech runs out of gas
(Georgia Tech Sports Information and staff reports)
INDIANAPOLIS – Playing without Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year Moses Wright, ninth-seeded Georgia Tech men’s basketball’s magical season came to an end with a 71-60 loss to No. 8 seed Loyola Chicago on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
The defeat snapped Georgia Tech’s eight-game winning streak and brought the Yellow Jackets’ season to a close with a 17-9 record.
“It was tough not playing with Moses, right?,” Tech head coach Josh Pastner said. “Not easy to lose your ACC Player of the Year. I feel so bad for that young man. Think about it, he's worked so hard, a chance of a lifetime to play in the NCAA tournament, and unfortunately he's not able to play. I feel sick for him. I just feel sick for him. That's obviously a big loss when you're not having the ACC Player of the Year that you've depended on and counted on.
“But that being said, you still had to go out and play the game. That's just part of it. In the world that we're in right now with COVID-19, the virus, it's kind of day by day. When you get to the floor, we're just so thankful that we've had a tournament. I want to give so much credit to the men and women, both the men's side and the women's side, all the coaches, the administrators, the NCAA, we're so thankful to the NCAA to have this tournament, thankful for the city of Indianapolis hosting this tournament.”
Tech shot an outstanding 57 percent from the field (27-for-47), but without Wright, who averaged 17.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game this season, the Yellow Jackets were out-rebounded by a 30-17 margin. Loyola’s 13-1 edge in offensive rebounds and 15-0 advantage in second-chance points proved to be the difference.
“He's the ACC Player of the Year,” Pastner said. “He led us in rebounds, points and field goal percentage. He's one of the very best players in America. Then you don't find out whether you're going to have him or not till some point in this week. It's a humongous loss, there's no denying it. It's just a huge loss.”
It was a game of spurts, both teams had 11-0 runs during the course of the contest. Georgia Tech raced out to a 13-3 lead but Loyola battled back to take a 30-25 halftime advantage.
Loyola (25-4) stretched its lead to seven points early in the second half, but sparked by five points from Jose Alvarado, four from Jordan Usher and four from Khalid Moore, the Jackets used a 13-3 run to retake a 43-40 lead with 11:55 to go in the ballgame. However, the Ramblers scored the next 10 points of the game to take a 50-43 advantage with less than 10 minutes and Tech was never able to get closer than three the rest of the way.
“We had 42 points in the paint. We didn't live and die by the three,” Pastner said. “You have to give Loyola of Chicago credit, they're a good defensive team, numbers-wise they're best in the country based on efficiency. What I was a little more surprised, I would have liked to see us get to the free-throw line more. We only got five free-throws. Part of our game plan was to keep driving. When you're driving that much, you feel you're going to maybe have an opportunity to get to the free-throw line.
“Loyola of Chicago defended well, got to give them credit. I mean, we shot 60 percent from the field, and we didn't live and die by the three. The difference is the offensive rebounds, they had 13, and we were 11 for 27.
I thought we were small sometimes defensively in our changing of defenses that allowed them to get open opportunities. Not having Moses there, we had to play smaller at times.”
Usher led three Yellow Jackets in double-figures with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Michael Devoe added 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting and Alvarado chipped in with 13.
Despite not having the 6-foot-9 Wright available, Georgia Tech did yeoman’s work in limiting the production of Loyola’s own 6-foot-9 star, Cameron Krutwig. The Jackets held the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and All-American to just 10 points and five rebounds. Guard Lucas Williamson led the Ramblers with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range, and six rebounds.
“You have to give Loyola of Chicago credit,” Pastner said. “They were really good. They're a good defensive team. We were trying to drive the ball. We were talking our game plan. Keep attacking the paint. We didn't feel they had a shot blocker. But they do a great job of moving their feet. They're physical. They play with physicality. Loyola of Chicago and Coach Moser deserve a lot of credit.
About the man who wasn’t there
Loyola wasn’t looking past Tech, but the Ramblers looked ahead