ATLANTA — Donovan Mitchell scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half Saturday to lead No. 9 Louisville to a 65-50 victory over Georgia Tech, making the Cardinals the last ACC team to pick up a conference win.
Louisville (13-3, 1-2) used stifling defense in the first half and the long ball to beat Tech (9-6, 1-2) for the sixth straight time.
Quentin Snider added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinals while center Ben Lammers paced the Jackets with a career-high 24 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Freshman Josh Okogie scored 15 points for Tech, which made just 5 of 20 shots in the first half.
After leading 27-18 at halftime, the Cardinals looked like they were going to run away with the game after Mitchell made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions for a 41-26 lead.
Tech scored the game's next 12 points, however, pulling within 41-38 on a dunk by Lammers off a nifty pass from Okogie. The Jackets again were within three a minute later before Louisville's Jaylen Johnson hit a 3. Mitchell added another, his fifth, with 6:43 left in the game to push the Cardinals up 49-42.
Tech never again was that close.
Georgia Tech made just three of its first 15 shots, and didn't score its 10th point until Tadric Jackson made a free throw with 6:27 left in the first half.
Louisville ran to a 16-3 lead on the strength of the long ball, making 4 of 5 3-pointers in that run, including two by Deng Adel.
From there the Cardinals made just 4 of 21 shots up to halftime, including a scoreless streak of 6:10. They also made just 2 of 7 from the free throw line.
Adel left the game with an undisclosed injury with just under 5 minutes left in the first half soon after Lammers blocked his shot and then took a rebound after another miss by Deng. As a trainer helped him up and then off the court, he had a towel on his head and wobbled as he walked.
BIG PICTURE
Louisville: After splitting games against No. 6 Kentucky (win), No. 12 Virginia (loss), No. 16 Indiana (win) and No. 23 Notre Dame (loss) in the previous four games, the Cardinals locked down on defense for all but about 5 minutes and was on point offensively in the second half.
Georgia Tech: The Jackets were far more competitive than in their last outing, a 110-57 loss Wednesday at No. 8 Duke, their most lopsided ACC loss ever, but their offense is going to have to pick up if they are going to win many more conference games.
UP NEXT
Louisville will play the first of three consecutive home games Wednesday, when the Cardinals take on Pitt — one of just three teams nationally with two players averaging 20 or more points in Michael Young (22.7 ppg) and Jamel Artis (21.4).
Georgia Tech stays home for a Thursday game against Clemson, whom the Yellow Jackets have beaten two straight times and in three of the previous five meetings after a 10-game losing streak to the Tigers.
