Lance Terry scored a career-high 31 points while adding seven rebounds and four assists as Georgia Tech breezed to an 89-74 win over Miami on Tuesday in Atlanta.
Baye Ndongo produced 22 points and eight rebounds while Duncan Powell chipped in 16 points and seven boards and Naithan George had 10 points, 11 assists and four steals as the Yellow Jackets (16-14, 10-9 Atlantic Coast Conference) won their third consecutive game and fifth in six tries.
Georgia Tech also clinched a first-round bye in next week’s ACC tournament.
Matthew Cleveland led Miami (6-24, 2-17) with 29 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Brandon Johnson had 16 points and 10 rebounds while Austin Swartz tallied 14 points for the Hurricanes, who dropped their sixth straight game and finished the season winless away from home.
Georgia Tech saw its 16-point halftime lead balloon to 22 after connecting on three consecutive 3-pointers to start the second half. That was part of a run of 12 straight made shots for the hosts spanning both halves.
Jalil Bethea’s mid-range jumper and Johnson’s dunk trimmed Miami’s deficit to 17 to go before Terry made consecutive layups to extend the Yellow Jackets’ commanding lead to 71-50 with 12:32 remaining. Layups from Cleveland and Johnson pulled the Hurricanes within 17 again, but an 8-0 run capped by three Ndongo baskets helped Georgia Tech pull away for good.
Miami connected on six straight field-goal attempts to cut its deficit to 85-70 on Cleveland’s alley-oop dunk with less than three minutes left before Georgia Tech closed it out.
Cleveland’s layup gave Miami a 13-12 lead before layups from Ndongo and Ibrahim Souare began a 9-0 Georgia Tech run midway through the first half.
Cleveland’s three-point play pulled Miami within five, but Ndongo’s two layups and Jaeden Mustaf’s basket pushed the Yellow Jackets’ lead to 32-21. Miami later cut its deficit to 10 on Swartz’s 3-pointer, but Terry closed the first half with back-to-back treys, giving Georgia Tech a 46-30 lead at the break.
–Field Level Media
