ATLANTA- Georgia Tech men’s basketball bounced back from a tough stretch of games on the road with a 91-82 win over UMBC on Wednesday night in McCamish Pavilion. The win snapped a three-game skid for the Jackets and avoided tying the worst start since the 1981-82 season as the Jackets improved to 5-6 on the season.
Sophomore point guard Naithan George led Tech’s scoring with 18 points including going 6-6 at the line and eight assists to go with two steals.
“The ball movement got us going and everyone got their touches and that got us going,” George said.
Head coach Damon Stoudamire said he was pleased with how his team responded to early adversity but wasn’t as impressed with the second half lull that made the game competitive late after the Jackets held a 22 point lead with just over 14 minutes left in the game.
Big man Baye Ndongo had 17 points and nine rebounds, but he only had four second-half points as the Retrievers slowed down Tech’s inside offense.
Senior transfer center Ryan Mutombo made his first career start at Tech for the Jackets in place of freshman Doryan Onwuchekwa. Mutombo saw his first action for the Jackets in the loss to Northwestern on Sunday in Milwaukee after he rejoined the team recently following a time of mourning.
“I’m really proud of Ryan and I’m glad that he is around. I told him to take some time and be at peace with things and focus on being around and being a student and a teammate. I said after the Northwestern game, we were going to ramp him up and Ryan is a big ole boy and he is a load up in there. He is a difference-maker. I see it makes Baye’s game a little easier and he doesn’t have to be the focal point and look for him to post up and be as impactful, he can get rebounds and impact the game. I wanted to put him back in, but they didn’t go back to their big so it wasn’t the right matchup.
Mutombo had six points and seven rebounds in 13 minutes of action as he eased back into the rotation after taking time away from the team to grieve the death of his hall-of-fame father Dikembe Mutombo earlier this year.
“More than anything this has been a big preparation week for me and getting more practice reps for my role on the team. That has been my focus this week,” Mutombo said. “After my father passed away I was away from the team for a long time for familial and mental health reasons. Coach (James) Forrest was visiting me at my house and Coach Damon was calling me and I still felt the presence of guys around me. Coach Babcock was filling me in on what I missed. I has been a privilege to be with these guys who make me feel like I’m at home.
Stoudamire said that Onwuchekwa is taking time away from the program for personal reasons and he does not have a timetable for his return.
Guards Jaeden Mustaf and Lance Terry added 15 points to round out the double-figure scorers. Mustaf was a key performer in the game with five rebounds, five assists, and a steal. Stoudamire was pleased with his performance on Wednesday night.
“I was happy for Mustaf and I thought he did a lot of good things. It is different than Nait being a freshman because he can get to the cup and he can matchup with different guys defensively,” Stoudamire said.
Freshman Darrion Sutton also scored his first career basket in the first half and played 11 minutes with three rebounds and four points.
“Darrion got real minutes tonight and I was happy to see what he can do. He had three rebounds in 11 big minutes,” Stoudamire said.
For the Retrievers, Bryce Johnson led UMBC with 21 points followed by Louis Jordan with 17 and Ace Valentine with 16 points doing the heavy lifting.
Tech shot 52.5 percent for the game and UMBC was at 51.7 percent.
After a brutal opening three and a half minutes, Georgia Tech pulled away on a 19-0 to take a 53-34 lead at the half behind 61.8 percent shooting from the field and 4-6 shooting from three. Baye Ndongo had 13 points in 15 minutes in the first half and three steals to pace the Jackets. Tech held the Retrievers to 5-16 shooting from three and just 13-30 overall (43.3 percent) in the first half.
The Retrievers took an 11-2 lead in the first 3:27 of the game using an 11-0 as Tech missed multiple shots at the rim. Georgia Tech used a 19-0 run to gup 21-11 on the Retrievers. Georgia Tech controlled the game after that point going up 18 with 3:02 left on a Mutombo putback 44-26. The Jackets controlled the action the rest of the half taking a 53-34 lead to the locker room.
Tech controlled the second half until a dry spell left the Jackets without a field goal for over six minutes allowing UMBC to cut the lead to 8, 68-60. The Retrievers pulled within six, but Terry hit a corner three to put the Jackets back up 73-64. Regimantas Ciunys hit a three to push the game back to six with 2:56 to play 77-71 but Ndongo’s slame with 2:01left put the Jackets back up eight. Luke O’Brien hit a corner three to put the game away with just over a minute remaining in the game.
Georgia Tech hosts Duke at noon on Saturday.
