Notre Dame ekes out victory over Georgia Tech

Markus Burton put up 18 points and Tae Davis scored 17 as Notre Dame pulled out a 58-55 victory over Georgia Tech on Wednesday night in South Bend, Ind.

The Fighting Irish (9-16, 4-10 Atlantic Coast Conference) shot just 31.6 percent from the floor but owned a 20-9 advantage on second-chance points and went 17-for-22 from the free-throw line. Notre Dame has won two straight following a seven-game skid, and 10 in a row at home over Georgia Tech (10-15, 3-11).

Ibrahima Sacko had 13 points while Miles Kelly and Baye Ndongo each scored 11 for the Yellow Jackets, who have dropped four straight. Georgia Tech shot 45.8 percent on field-goal attempts but had just 11 free throws, sinking six.

Kelly hit two free throws and then sank a jumper to give Georgia Tech a 53-52 lead with 4:33 to go, but the Irish went up good when J.R. Konieczny knocked down a short baseline jumper off a dish from Burton with 3:12 left. Shortly after, Davis forced a Yellow Jackets turnover, then extended Notre Dame's lead to 56-53 on a layup at 1:23 to go.

Ndongo's layup got Georgia Tech within a point with 38 seconds left, but after Burton missed a jumper, the Irish kept the ball alive. Logan Imes snagged the long rebound and got the ball to Burton, who was fouled, then sank a pair of free throws with 1.2 seconds remaining.

Georgia Tech trailed 31-28 at halftime but was hot out of the break. Kelly scored his first points off a drive to ignite the Yellow Jackets to a 9-1 run and a 37-32 lead.

The Irish then used an 8-2 spurt, featuring four points from Davis, for a 49-46 lead. Kelly, however, tied it on a 3-pointer with just under 7 1/2 minutes to play in regulation.

Each team shot below 40 percent in the first half, with Notre Dame a paltry 9-for-30 (30 percent) from the field. However, the Irish used an 11-0 run to erase Georgia Tech's 17-11 lead. Davis, Braeden Shrewsberry and Konieczny each hit a trey during that surge for Notre Dame, which also went 9-for-11 from the free-throw line during the first 20 minutes.