Another road game, and it was the same result as the previous eleven over the last two seasons for Georgia Tech as they fell to Virginia by a final score of 72-64 Saturday afternoon. The Jackets fall to 9-9 and 2-3 in conference play while Virginia improves to 11-8 and 2-3 in the ACC with the win.
Tech is now 0-6 this year in road games, losing by an average margin of 14.3 points per game. In three road losses in conference play that margin is even worse at 14.7 per game. Their last true road win was January 16th of last year when they won at North Carolina 73-71. Today marked their 12th straight road loss since then.
The Jackets were led in scoring by guard Iman Shumpert with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Daniel Miller put up a career high 12 points. Brian Oliver got the start in place of Kammeon Holsey who didn't make the trip due to stomach flu and added 13 points.
Virginia's Mustapha Farrakhan had a game-high 23 points. The senior guard had 15 points in an upset of Georgia Tech last year, so it seems he enjoys playing the Jackets. Joe Harris and K.T. Harrell also hit double digits, getting 11 and 17 points respectively.
The story of the game to me was just how much the team relies on Shumpert. With 4:44 remaining in the first half, and the score only 26-24 in favor of Virginia, Shumpert picked up his second foul of the game. Hewitt took him out, trying to prevent that first-half third foul, and Virginia outscored Tech 17-5 over the last few minutes to take a 14 point lead into the locker room. The Jackets weren't able to cut into that lead until garbage time the entire second half.
Tech will need to regroup, and quickly, as they host one of the league's best in Virginia Tech Tuesday evening at 9 p.m.