Hurricanes can’t find the basket late in loss to Tech

ATLANTA — Jose Alvarado scored nine of his 16 points in the second half and Georgia Tech rallied after giving up a 20-point lead to beat Miami 63-57 on Saturday night, keeping alive dreams of landing a first-round bye in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament for the first time in 10 years.

Fellow guard Michael Devoe added 14 points for Tech (15-14, 9-9 ACC) and center James Banks III pitched in 13 points, 14 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Miami point guard Chris Lykes paced the Hurricanes (14-14, 6-12) with 14 points.

Tech’s biggest lead came when Devoe hit a 3-pointer with 15:33 left in the game for a 49-29 edge, but the Hurricanes went on a 24-2 run during a stretch when the Jackets were plagued by a slew of turnovers (six in that time) and a missed alley-opp by Jordan Usher. Tech missed 10 of 11 shots.

Lykes gave Miami leads of 53-51 on a 3-pointer with 7:36 remaining, and 57-55 on a pair of free throws with 4:08 to go.

Banks pushed Tech ahead for good, 58-57, on two free throws with 3:04 left. Miami did not score over the final 4:08 of the game.

The Hurricanes scarcely challenged Tech in the first half, when the Yellow Jackets ran off 13 consecutive points late in the period to take a 40-24 lead. Georgia Tech had a huge 25-13 rebounding advantage, and 14 of the Jackets’ 16 made field goals in the half came in the paint.

Lykes, Miami’s leading scorer, went scoreless until the final minute before intermission, and took just three shots in the half as Tech had a pair of defenders, the 6-foot Alvarado and 5-10 reserve guard Bubba Parham, who were quick enough to stay in front of the Hurricanes’ 5-7 point guard.

It didn’t help that Miami turned the ball over 11 times before halftime, as Alvarado picked up four of his seven steals for Georgia Tech.

The Hurricanes had to work hard to overcome that 20-point deficit that they looked gassed over the game’s final four-plus minutes.

The Yellow Jackets are in a five-way tie — locked with Notre Dame, North Carolina State, Clemson and Syracuse — for fifth place in the ACC. The top nine teams in the 15-team conference will have first-round byes in the conference tournament.

The Hurricanes will play host to Virginia on Wednesday night.