In the final seconds of Georgia Tech’s 64-58 win over N.C. State on Saturday, Jose Alvarado took over the game. With Michael Devoe out with a sore foot, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that this had to happen for Georgia Tech to win.
Head coach Josh Pastner said Devoe will be day-to-day and that the decision to hold him out wasn’t made until just before the game. Still, if there’s something this season has shown, it’s that Georgia Tech desperately needs Alvarado to be at his best.
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Early in the season, Georgia Tech had to find ways to play without Alvarado as he recovered from an injury. And while Devoe was the ACC’s top scorer during that stretch, the offense didn’t quite run at optimum standard without Alvarado at the helm.
Alvarado finally got the all-clear to play at the end of December, but throughout a tough January schedule, Pastner indicated he needed more from his point guard in terms of consistent scoring and clean play. Even Alvarado said he needed to be better.
Georgia Tech (9-11, 4-6 ACC) has been sticking with its opponents but hasn’t quite found a way to finish those games. For that to happen, Alvarado needed to lead the way.
On Saturday afternoon, the narrative changed, at least for a day. Alvarado showed what can happen when he’s on, finishing with 26 points. (Evan Cole was the only other Yellow Jackets player to score in double figures, with 11 points off the bench.)
In the closing seconds, Alvarado had two steals that sealed the win, and he finished with eight steals overall to tie the program’s single-game record.
“Alvarado was really, really special,” N.C. State head coach Kevin Keatts said. “He ran the show.”
Keatts spoke at length about how — outside of maybe one or two teams in the conference — the ACC is churning out close games. There isn’t much separation in the conference this season, and the past two weeks for Georgia Tech and N.C. State (14-6, 5-4) are the perfect examples of that.
Since Jan. 15, Georgia Tech has lost three games by narrow margins: Notre Dame by four, Virginia by five and Louisville by four. After losing by 27 to Miami on Jan. 15, N.C. State beat Clemson and Virginia by six and two points, respectively.
“We just didn’t show a lot of fight,” Keatts said.
A lot of Georgia Tech’s fight came from Alvarado. He stepped up to play at the level Pastner expects from the point guard. But even though his name stuffed the stat sheet, Alvarado was quick to say that the stats didn’t tell the whole story.
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“There are things James (Banks) did that won’t show up,” Alvarado said, referring to some of the points he had in the paint because Banks opened up the floor for him.
Pastner also pointed to contributions from Cole, which included three blocked shots, and Jordan Usher, who had eight points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Even so, the game at times appeared to fall solely on the shoulders of Alvarado, even if that wasn’t completely true. Alvarado may have willed the game to turn in the Yellow Jackets’ favor when he made those two steals, but there were sprinkles throughout the game that depicted a Georgia Tech team playing with a certain will to finish. It’s something Pastner said has been missing in recent games.
“Our guys fought, battled, clawed their way,” Pastner said. “They’re at the doorstep, and we’ve improved. We’ve gotten better as a team, but we just had to be able to get through the door. That was the next step in our progression.”
(Photo: Brett Davis / USA Today)