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Big second half lifts Georgia Tech to 69-53 upset of #16 Virginia Tech

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virginia tech logoAn 13-1 Georgia Tech run broke open a tight game, and the Yellow Jackets held on late in a 69-53 win over #16 Virginia Tech Tuesday night in Blacksburg.

It was the first game in 17 days for the Hokies (14-5, 8-4 ACC), who were on an extended COVID-19 pause since their 80-76 OT win at Miami on Feb. 6.

They didn’t seem to be any worse for the wear in the opening 20 minutes, which ended in a 24-24 tie.

But Georgia Tech (12-8, 8-6 ACC) took control with the 13-1 run over a 5:44 stretch of the second half that turned a one-point lead into a 42-29 bulge.

Virginia Tech would fight back to 48-42 at the 7:20 mark on a layup from guard Tyrece Radford, who had 11 points in his first game back since being suspended from the team on Jan. 25 after being charged with DUI and a weapons violation.

That would be as close as it would get from there, though.

The Yellow Jackets were 16-of-26 (61.5 percent) from the floor in the second half.

Center Moses Wright led all scorers with 26 points.

Keve Aluma had 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Hokies.

“The last thing I’m going to do is blame anything on a tough stretch. We’ve all lived it. Bottom line is, we got beat by a better team tonight,” Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said. “I thought we lost our edge and got hit in the stomach and we stepped away from it and that is unlike our team. Win lose or draw we had to get back on the floor, we had to play, we had to compete.”

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