FAYETTEVILLE — It makes no sense for Georgia Tech to lose to Gardner-Webb on Monday and then bounce back and take down Arkansas on the road two days later.
But that’s what happen on Wednesday as the Yellow Jackets defeated the Razorbacks 69-65 at Bud Walton Arena.
Georgia Tech (6-4) rallied from a seven-point, second-half deficit to take down Arkansas (7-3) to the delight of its head coach Josh Pastner.
“A great win for us,” Pastner said. “(Arkansas is) a very good basketball team. They’re very well coached. They’ve got a lot of really, really good players. I know how hard it is to win at this arena on the road. So it’s a great testament to our young men.
“We had a tough loss on Monday coming after finals and we didn’t play well. To come back 48 hours later and get a win like this against a very good basketball team that’s well coached, and with a lot of good players is outstanding.”
Gardner-Webb (9-5) defeated Georgia Tech 79-69 in Atlanta on Monday when it shot 60 percent in the first half and 52.5 percent for the game.
The Running Bulldogs followed up their upset of the Yellow Jackets with their seventh straight win, a 106-27 home victory over Brevard on Wednesday as center DJ Lester followed up his 25-point game against Georgia Tech with 18 points.
“The Gardner Webb one, that falls on me,” Pastner said. “We went away from our rules and worried about matchups more than our rules and principles. Number 25 (Lester) for them had 20 points in the first half. We were so worried about taking the three that we didn’t shrink the floor, having the floor shrunk, five guys guarding the basketball. We did not do a good job on that Monday.
“Our first year here we were fifth defensively in Ken Pom (rankings) and led the ACC in field goal percentage defense, three-point percentage defense. So we were an elite defensive team and that’s what we always want to do.”
Arkansas opened the game just 1-of-11 from the field and fell behind 15-4 before hitting 10 of its next 14 shots to take a 32-31 lead into halftime.
But the Razorbacks stumbled out of the second half and ended the game shooting just 38.1 percent (24-of-63) over and 10-of-32 from 3-point range.
Mason Jones had 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, but was just 5-of-15 from the field. Daniel Gafford had 14 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks before fouling out in the final minute.
Isaiah Joe had 13 points on 5-of-17 shooting, 3-of-12 from the 3-point line where he had been shooting 60 percent this month and 49 percent for the season.
“We hang our hat on defense,” Pastner said. “That’s what we do. When we defend at a high level we’re a very good basketball team.
“I’m really proud of our guys to that. We had a lot of great moments. Defensively we did some really good stuff there, and we were fortunate to get the win. We made some free throws down the stretch.”
Arkansas point guard Jalen Harris, who leads the SEC in assists, had just four on Wednesday.
“I knew coming in that Jalen Harris had a 7-to-1 assist to turnover ratio and I thought coming in that he would be the best athlete on the floor based on film,” Pastner said. “But what I would tell you is that in my time at Georgia Tech we have hung our hat on our defense. We pride ourself on defense. That’s who we are, that’s our identity.
“Tonight we defended well. We were good in transition defense and that was a big thing.
“I’m just telling you that Arkansas is really good. I know they are very young. Coach Anderson, who I have known for a long time, is an outstanding coach and one of the best in the country. They are a good basketball team and they will only get better as the year goes on. They have some studs on that team.”
Pastner, the former Memphis coach, was pleased with the ending.
“It was a high level game for both teams … To win a game like this on the road in an extremely tough environment, one of the hardest places to play,” Pastner said. “With us being a young team as well, it’s a great testament to our young men. And our assistant coaches did a great job in game prep. Most of the credit to the players, and then obviously the assistant coaches did a great job as well.”