Kyle Sturdivant scored a game-high 20 points off the bench to help lead Georgia Tech past visiting Florida State 85-76 on Saturday in Atlanta.
Baye Ndongo added 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets (13-16, 6-12 Atlantic Coast Conference), while Naithan George also scored 15 points. Tafara Gapare and Tyzhaun Claude each collected 10 rebounds for Georgia Tech, which won its third game in four tries.
Jamir Watkins led Florida State (15-14, 9-9) with 15 points, while Cam Corhen scored 14. Baba Miller and Primo Spears added 13 points apiece for the Seminoles, who have dropped two of their last three games and three straight road games.
After Georgia Tech held a three-point halftime lead, the Yellow Jackets extended their lead to 53-46 on Sturdivant’s triple at the 12:51 mark.
Spears’ jumper trimmed the Seminoles’ deficit to four points, but Sturdivant responded with a three-point play which gave Georgia Tech a 57-50 advantage with 11:24 left.
Another Sturdivant 3-pointer gave the Yellow Jackets a 67-57 lead, before Miller’s layup cut the Seminoles’ deficit to eight points with 7:02 left.
From there, Georgia Tech pulled away thanks to an 8-0 scoring run, capped with Gapare’s dunk with 4:11 remaining which gave the Yellow Jackets a 75-59 lead.
Another thunderous Gapare dunk pushed the Georgia Tech advantage to 17 points with 2:31 left, putting a stamp on the Yellow Jacket victory.
In the first half, Georgia Tech jumped out to a 21-14 lead on Dallan Coleman’s mid-range jumper at the 10:02 mark.
With 4:21 left in the opening half, Ndongo’s three-point play gave the Yellow Jackets a 36-33 advantage before a pair of Watkins free throws and a Spears layup led to Florida State’s first lead with 3:14 to go in the first half.
Minutes later, another Spears layup gave Florida State a 41-39 lead, but Sturdivant’s triple and Claude’s layup gave the Yellow Jackets a 44-41 halftime advantage.
Corhen led Florida State with 10 points in the first half, while Kowacie Reeves Jr. and Ndongo each led Georgia Tech with nine first-half points.
–Field Level Media