ATLANTA (AP) — Lance Terry scored a season-high 24 points, Miles Kelly added 20 and Georgia Tech snapped No. 12 Miami’s nine-game winning streak with a 76-70 win on Wednesday night.
The Yellow Jackets (8-6, 1-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) closed the game on a 12-0 run that ended with a pair of free throws by Kelly with 16.5 seconds remaining. That ended the scoring as Georgia Tech registered its first win over a ranked team since it beat Florida State in the 2021 ACC title game.
“I gave them so many examples in life where it looks like the sky is falling and you find a way to bounce back,” Yellow Jackets coach Josh Pastner said. “Just so proud of our guys. Look, we didn’t play well in a couple of games. It wasn’t good, and then all of a sudden you’re playing the No. 12 team in the country, first place in the ACC, so to get that win was special.”
Miami (13-2, 4-1) didn’t score over the last four-plus minutes. Jordan Miller and Norchad Omier each led the Hurricanes with 17 points, and Nijel Pack had 13.
Deivon Smith’s putback gave the Yellow Jackets a 72-70 lead with 1:17 remaining, and Kelly’s runner made it 74-70 with 37 seconds left in the game.
“We really struggled against the zone and never quite attacked consistently enough,” Miami coach Jim Larrañaga said. “I say that but we took the lead late in the second, but we made some uncharacteristic mental mistakes.
“That cost us. They came right back, tied the game and took the lead. We had a very hard time stopping them down the stretch.”
Isaiah Wong, Miami’s leading scorer this season, had just six points on 1 for 11 shooting, including 0 for 8 on 3-point attempts. He didn’t score after sinking a pair of free throws to give the Hurricanes a 64-59 lead with 7:26 remaining.
“They all scored a little bit less than you need in a game like this, especially Isaiah,” Larrañaga said. “He is so good at scoring the ball and he just had a bad night. He’s entitled to a bad night every once in a while, and tonight was it.”
Wooga Poplar stole the ball from Ja’von Franklin and scored the ensuing layup and drew a foul for a three-point play that put the Hurricanes up 58-55 with 9:52 left in the game, and it appeared they wouldn’t relinquish the lead the rest of the way.
“We just had to mainly play hard on defense and get stops,” Kelly said, “and then our offense will take care of itself.”
Poplar’s running hook shot in the lane made it 62-59, but Miami couldn’t put Georgia Tech away.
“We’ve had a lot of talks about when teams make runs, not shutting down and going back at them, and I think today we kind of proved that,” Terry said after playing 40 minutes. “Or we made a step forward in that.”
Miami’s biggest lead was six with 4:50 remaining. Georgia Tech tied it at the 2:15 mark on Deebo Coleman’s two free throws. Coleman finished with 14 points.
Georgia Tech was 17 for 19 on free throws. Miami went 17 for 25.
BIG PICTURE
Miami: Over the previous three games, the Hurricanes registered an impressive 42-0 margin in fast-break points, but they were outscored 13-8 in such situations against Georgia Tech. Miami did itself no favors from the field, shooting a season-low 35%.
Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets have struggled so much in ACC play that this game marked the first time they have led in the second half of a league game this season.
UP NEXT
Miami: Hosts Boston College next Wednesday.
Georgia Tech: Visits Florida State on Saturday.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
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