ATLANTA, Ga. — Nasir Whitlock poured in 29 points and Georgia Tech lived at the foul line Friday, beating Georgia Southern 95-83 at McCamish Pavilion for a 2-0 start under coach Scott Cross.
Whitlock made four threes and missed only one of 14 free throws while grabbing seven rebounds and dealing six assists. Kam Craft, Tylis Jordan and Colby Garland finished with 11 points each, and every Jacket who checked in found the scorebook.
Tech grabbed the lead on Craft’s first three and never gave it back, pushing the gap as high as 12. The Jackets stacked 51 points before the break and finished with 36 makes from the stripe, the program’s biggest free-throw haul in a regulation game in nearly four decades.
Georgia Southern fell to 1-1 despite a 45-34 rebounding edge, including 24 offensive boards. Truman Claytor IV scored 24, Eltramon Smith 20 and Josh Dixon 13. Dallas Gardner had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, but the Eagles made just 17 of 32 free throws.
Craft buried three early triples to set the tone. After Southern trimmed the deficit to five in the second half, Whitlock answered with a three that made it 77-69 with a little more than eight minutes left. Freshman Ilja Kurucs, in his first college appearance, scored back-to-back baskets down the stretch to keep the Eagles at arm’s length.
The Yellow Jackets host Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday at 7 p.m. back at McCamish Pavilion as they chase a 3-0 start in the Cross coaching era. Friday’s 95 points matched Tech’s highest output since a December win over Lafayette last season.
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