Notre Dame 65, Georgia Tech 62

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Center Garrick Sherman scored 21 points and Notre Dame survived a pair of potential game-tying 3-point attempts in the final seconds to post a 65-62 victory over Georgia Tech on Wednesday night at Purcell Pavilion.

Forward Robert Carter Jr. missed a pair of 3-point attempts in the closing seconds that would have sent the game to overtime.

The Irish trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, but rebounded to improve to 15-14 overall and 6-10 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Georgia Tech lost for the third straight time and for the ninth time in 12 games since beating Notre Dame 74-69 on Jan. 11 in Atlanta. The Yellow Jackets dropped to 13-15 overall, 4-11 in the ACC.

After trailing 22-11 early, Notre Dame responded and took a 33-31 halftime lead.

The Irish continued to control play early in the second half, opening the half on a 14-7 spurt to build a 47-38 lead.

Georgia Tech, however, wouldn’t go away, inching closer behind back-to-back 3-pointers from guard Chris Bolden.

The Irish led 63-56 with 2:19 left, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Carter trimmed it to 63-62.

After Sherman corralled a rebound off a missed Irish shot, swingman Pat Connaughton hit a pair of free throws with 24 seconds remaining to give Notre Dame a 65-62 lead. Carter had a pair of 3-point attempts from the right wing but both hit the rim.

Sherman had scored a combined 29 points in Notre Dame’s previous four games before breaking through Wednesday, hitting 10 of 15 shots.

Guard Eric Atkins scored 17 for the Irish.

Georgia Tech was led by Carter with 19 points and swingman Marcus Georges-Hunt added 13.

Sherman scored 11 points as Notre Dame clawed back from an 11-point deficit to take a 33-31 halftime lead.

The Irish trailed most of the half but took a 30-29 lead with 1:11 remaining when guard Atkins hit an acrobatic shot from the paint.

Georgia Tech center Daniel Miller briefly gave the Yellow Jackets back the lead when he drove from the top of the key and hit a layup, but Connaughton nailed a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left before intermission to give the Irish the halftime lead.

The Irish trailed 22-11, which caused coach Mike Brey to use a 30-second timeout. Notre Dame responded with six consecutive points.

After a sluggish start shooting, Notre Dame warmed up to finish the half at 50 percent (15 of 30) from the field. The Yellow Jackets hit just 12 of 33 from the field (36.4 percent) before the break, but they were successful on five of nine attempts from 3-point range.

Atkins had seven first-half points. Georgia Tech received nine first-half points from Georges-Hunt, while Carter added seven.

NOTES: Mike Brey was seeking his 300th victory at Notre Dame. Brey, in his 14th season at the school, entered 299-156 (.657). Brey entered with a career record of 398-208 (.657). Brey coached at Delaware prior to being hired at Notre Dame. … Georgia Tech made its first trip to Notre Dame since Feb. 24, 1990, when the Yellow Jackets pulled out an 88-80 overtime win. Georgia Tech went on to win the ACC title that season and advance to the Final Four … Notre Dame assistant coach Rod Balanis is a 1993 Georgia Tech graduate … Wednesday’s game began a stretch of three road games in seven days for Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets visit Florida State on Sunday and Syracuse on Tuesday. … The Irish play host to Pitt on Saturday.