Men's Hoops Races Past Louisville on Senior Day - Georgia Tech

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech men's basketball closed the first half with a 23-8 run and never looked back on its way to an 83-67 win over Louisville on Saturday afternoon at McCamish Pavilion. With its eighth-straight Senior Day victory, Tech closed the home portion of its 2022-23 schedule with four-consecutive wins at the Thrillerdome.

Georgia Tech trailed 24-22 with under eight minutes to go in the opening half, but its 23-8 spurt over the final 7:31 of the period gave the Yellow Jackets a commanding 45-32 lead at the break. The 13-point halftime advantage was Tech's largest in an ACC game this season.

Louisville cut the Jackets' lead to five points at 66-61 with just under five minutes to play, but after a timeout, Tech responded with an old-fashioned 3-point play by Kyle Sturdivant (Norcross, Ga./Norcross H.S.), a huge blocked shot by Jalon Moore (Birmingham, Ala./Gardendale H.S.) and a second-chance bucket by Moore on the other end that extended the Jackets' lead back to 10 at 71-61 with under four minutes to go. The Cardinals never got closer than seven the rest of the way.

Playing his final home game in the White and Gold, Ja'Von Franklin (Little Rock, Ark./Parkview Magnet H.S.) led the way for Georgia Tech with a 21 points (on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 7-of-10 from the free-throw line) and 13 rebounds (including five on the offensive glass). The double-double was Franklin's fourth in the last seven games and seventh of the season.

Sturdivant also recorded a double-double for Georgia Tech with 11 points and 10 assists. It was the first points-assists double-double by a Yellow Jacket since Josh Heath versus NC State in 2017.

Miles Kelly (Stone Mountain, Ga./Parkview H.S.) and Lance Terry (College Park, Ga./The Heritage School) rounded out four Jackets in double-figures with 19 and 17 points, respectively.

As a team, Georgia Tech shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56) from the field, including 41.4 percent (12-of-29) from 3-point range. The 48.2 percent field-goal percentage was the Yellow Jackets' highest of the season in an ACC game and third-highest of the season overall. After not shooting 40 percent in 5-of-6 games from Jan. 14-Feb. 1, Tech has made at least 40 percent of its shots in seven-straight contests.

Tech opens the final week of the regular season on Tuesday when it visits Syracuse. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised regionally on the ACC's Regional Sports Network (Bally Sports South in Georgia).

Ja'Von Franklin lays in two of his game-high 21 points in Saturday's win over Louisville. (photo by Danny Karnik)