2021 New York Life ACC Tournament
No. 4 Georgia Tech 80, No. 2 Florida State 75
Championship Game
Postgame Notes
- Georgia Tech (17-8) claims its fourth ACC Tournament championship and its first since 1993. The Yellow Jackets are now 4-4 all-time in tournament title games.
- The Yellow Jackets are the sixth No. 4 seed to win the ACC Tournament, and the first since North Carolina in 1989.
- Georgia Tech claimed its first championship at the Greensboro Coliseum. The Yellow Jackets’ previous ACC Tournament titles came The Omni in Atlanta (1985) and at the Charlotte Coliseum (1990 and 1993). Saturday night marked Tech’s first berth in the championship game since 2010, and the eighth time in their conference history.
- While this marks Georgia Tech’s first ACC Tournament championship in Greensboro, the Yellow Jackets reached the title game here three times prior to this season (1986 versus Duke, 1996 versus Wake Forest, and 2010 versus Duke).
- Georgia Tech earned the ACC’s automatic qualifying berth in the 2021 NCAA Tournament and will carry an eight-game winning streak into next week’s play in Indianapolis. The Yellow Jackets have not lost a game in more than a month (74-72 at Clemson on Feb. 12).
- Georgia Tech has played in 40 ACC Tournaments, and has a 28-37 all-time record in the event.
- Saturday night’s outcome left the Yellow Jackets with a 2-1 edge versus FSU this season. The teams split during the regular season, with the Seminoles winning 74-61 in Tallahassee on Dec. 15, while the Yellow Jackets won 76-65 in Atlanta on Jan. 30.
- Tournament MVP Michael Devoe led Georgia Tech in scoring with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor. He led four Yellow Jackets scoring in double figures (Moses Wright and Jordan Usher had 15 points each; Jose Alvarado had 13).
- ACC Freshman of the Year Scottie Barnes led FSU with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor. M.J. Walker added 15 points for the Seminoles. Sophomore center Balsa Koprivica posted his second double-double of the tournament and third of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
- Florida State shot 56 percent from the floor, but the Yellow Jackets scored 31 points off 25 Seminole turnovers. The 25 turnovers were the most by an ACC team in any game this year and the second-most in ACC Tournament championship game history, behind North Carolina’s 26 versus Duke in 1989.
- Georgia Tech’s 15 steals set an ACC Championship game record, eclipsing the previous mark of 14 set four times prior to Saturday night. ACC Defensive Player of the Year Jose Alvarado led the effort with five steals.
- This year’s ACC Tournament championship is the fourth overall league tournament title for Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner, who led Memphis to three straight Conference-USA tourney titles from 2011-13.
- Georgia Tech became the fifth school to win at least four ACC Tournament championships, joining Duke (21), North Carolina (18), NC State (10) and Wake Forest (4).
- Florida State is now 2-1 against Georgia Tech in ACC Tournament play with previous wins over the Yellow Jackets in the first round in 2000 and in the quarterfinals in 2009. The Seminoles’ win over Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals in 2009 (March 13, 2009; 64-62) helped the Seminoles reach the ACC Tournament Championship game for the first time in school history.
- FSU (16-6) appeared in the ACC Tournament championship game for the fourth time and for the first time at the Greensboro Coliseum. The Seminoles reached the 2009 finals at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta before falling to Duke, 79-69. FSU’s 2012 championship came at Atlanta’s Philips Arena, where they topped North Carolina, 85-82, in the title game. The Seminoles fell to Duke, 73-63, in the 2019 final at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.
- FSU is 20-28 all-time in ACC Tournament games, including the 1-3 mark in finals.
- Saturday night’s championship marked the first time in 31 years that the ACC Tournament championship game will not include at least one school from the state of North Carolina. Georgia Tech, led by MVP Brian Oliver, defeated Virginia in the 1990 title game in Charlotte.
2021 All-ACC Tournament Team
First team
Michael Devoe, Georgia Tech (MVP)
Jose Alvarado, Georgia Tech
Balsa Koprivica, Florida State
Armando Bacot, North Carolina
Buddy Boeheim, Syracuse
Second team
Jordan Usher, Georgia Tech
Scottie Barnes, Florida State
Mark Williams, Duke
Isaiah Wong, Miami
Kameron McGusty, Miami