Pitt stretches losing streak to 7 with defeat vs. Georgia Tech

ATLANTA — Jose Alvarado scored 23 points, Michael Devoe added 13 and Georgia Tech won its third straight game with a 73-57 victory over Pitt on Wednesday night.

Eric Hamilton finished with 12 points to pace Pitt (15-16, 6-14 ACC).

Xavier Johnson connected from 3, and Hamilton hit two free throws to help Pitt pull within four early in the second half, but the Jackets, fueled by Evan Cole’s and Jordan Usher’s dunks, went on a 15-4 run to go up 47-32 on Alvarado’s 3.

Pitt has dropped seven straight since forcing 22 turnovers in a 74-63 win over Georgia Tech on Feb. 8. Jordan Champagnie, trying to become the first freshman to lead the Panthers in scoring and rebounding since Charles Smith in 1985-86, scored a season-high 30 in that game but finished with 11 points Wednesday and didn’t score a field goal until the outcome was all but decided.

The Panthers struggled badly through much of the first half against Georgia Tech’s 1-3-1 zone, a bad prescription for a team that began the game shooting 40.5% from the field, its lowest mark since 1968-69, and 29.2% on 3s, the lowest mark in program history. Pitt finished the game 31% from the field, caused mostly by Au’Diese Toney going 3 for 14.

Two days after withdrawing an appeal of an NCAA postseason ban, the Yellow Jackets (16-14, 10-9 ACC) got some measure of satisfaction in earning their most wins in league play since 1995-96.

Alvarado scored on consecutive possessions, and Devoe followed with a corner 3-pointer to make it 59-43 with 7:47 remaining. Devoe hit another corner 3 that made it a 19-point lead that essentially finished off the Panthers, who dropped to 1-9 in league road games.

Georgia Tech, which led throughout, has won six in a row at home in league play to finish 6-4. The Jackets, who began the day in a five-way tie for fifth place in the ACC, have won five of six overall and eight of 11.

They took their biggest lead in the first half at 18 on Alvarado’s layup at the 3:41 mark, but Pitt got 3s from Ryan Murphy, Gerald Drumgoole and Johnson to pull within nine at intermission.

Devoe hit a pair of free throws made it 20-9 midway through the for Georgia Tech’s first double-digit lead.

The Jackets can finish in fifth place by beating Clemson in two nights and getting a loss from Syracuse.