UNC Basketball: Tar Heels lose in disappointing fashion to Yellow Jackets
UNC basketball’s woes continue, as Tar Heels drop disappointing home game to Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Jose Alvarado scored a team-high 25 points for the Yellow Jackets, as Georgia Tech topped North Carolina by a final score of 96-83 on Saturday night at the Dean Smith Center.
Alvarado hit 8-of-12 shots from the floor, and 4-of-6 from the three-point line, to go along with eight assists and six steals. Moses Wright added 22 points and seven rebounds for the Jackets, while James Banks III scored a dozen.
Georgia Tech hit 59 percent of its shots on the game, and 6-of-14 shots from beyond the arc. They also knocked down 18-of-24 shots from the free throw line in their highest scoring game of the season to date. Despite committing 21 fouls, 13 turnovers and losing the rebounding battle by four, they still managed to control the game throughout, and win by 13.
North Carolina was led by junior forward Garrison Brooks, who scored a career-high 35 points on 9-of-18 shooting and 17-of-18 from the charity stripe. He also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with two assists and a steal before fouling out late in the second half. Brandon Robinson scored 12 points on four made three-pointers, and reserve forward Justin Pierce added 11.
The Tar Heels put together one of their worst performances in program history in the first half, scoring just 27 points and trailing by 20 at the intermission. They scored 56 in the second half, but it was just too little, too late after trailing by as much as 24. They managed to finish the game shooting 42.9 percent from the floor and behind the three-point line, and hit an impressive 23-of-27 foul shots.
North Carolina falls to 8-6 on the season, and 1-2 in conference play. The Yellow Jackets improved to 7-7, and evened their conference record at 2-2 on the year. North Carolina will be home against Pittsburgh on January 8.
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