Associated Press

ATLANTA — After a dismal start to the season, Georgia Tech turned things around and rolled into the new year with a modest winning streak.

Then COVID-19 struck.

The Yellow Jackets were forced to shut down all basketball activities and postpone four straight games.

A 2 1/2-week layoff has put coach Josh Pastner in uncharted territory as his team prepares to resume play tonight by hosting No. 20 Clemson.

“This is my first time in the middle of a season being on pause like this,” he said. “I want to play games. Give me 50 games. I love practice, but you want to play, you want to compete.”

After tough losses, including at Florida State in their Atlantic Coast Conference opener, Georgia Tech (6-3, 2-1) ripped off four straight wins — including conference victories over North Carolina and Wake Forest.

The Yellow Jackets haven’t played since their 70-54 rout of the Demon Deacons on Jan. 3. “To be honest, I don’t think it’s going to be that big of a challenge,” senior forward Moses Wright said. “I feel like we’re all going to be ready to go come the jump ball. I don’t think there’s going to be any let-off from what we did before this little brief shutdown we had.”

Florida 75, No. 6 Tennessee 49

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Noah Locke scored 14 points, Tyree Appleby added 13 and the short-handed Gators stunned No. 6 Tennessee.

Tre Mann chipped in 12 points for the Gators, who got unexpected help from several bench guys to offset Florida (7-4, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) being without three of their best four players.  The Volunteers (10-2, 4-2) had a woeful shooting performance and the 49 points were a season low.

No. 7 Michigan 87, Maryland 63

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Mike Smith made three early 3-pointers as No. 7 Michigan raced to an early 17-3 lead, and the Wolverines had little difficulty with Maryland. The Wolverines (12-1, 7-1 Big Ten) led 42-25 at halftime and stretched the advantage to as many as 25 points in the second.

Maryland (8-7, 2-6) was led by Donta Scott’s 13 points.

Purdue 67, No. 15 Ohio State 65

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Jaden Ivey scored 15 points and made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 5 seconds remaining as Purdue rallied to upset the Buckeyes.

Trevion Williams scored 16 points for the surging Boilermakers (11-5, 6-3 Big Ten), who have won four straight, three of them on the road. Sasha Stefanovic also had 15 points.

Duane Washington Jr. led Ohio State (11-4, 5-4) with 21 points, shooting 6 of 9 from 3-point range. Justin Ahrens added 12 points for the Buckeyes, whose three-game winning streak ended.

No. 19 Missouri 81, S. Carolina 70

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Jeremiah Tilmon had 19 points and 10 rebounds as Missouri beat the Gamecocks. Missouri (9-2, 3-2 SEC) had its best shooting performance overall at 58.3%. Reserve Keyshawn Bryant scored 19 points for South Carolina (3-4, 1-2).

Towson 78, UNC Wilmington 74

TOWSON, Md. (AP) — Zane Martin had 24 points as Towson narrowly beat UNC Wilmington. Charles Thompson added 17 points for Towson (3-5, 2-1 Colonial Athletic Association).

Mike Okauru scored a career-high 25 points for the Seahawks (6-5, 0-2). Jamahri Harvey scored a season-high 21 points, and Joe Pridgen had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Jaylen Sims, who led the Seahawks in scoring entering the contest with 19 points per game, scored only four. The Tigers defeated UNC Wilmington 72-69 on Monday.

Longwood 75, High Point 54

FARMVILLE, Va. (AP) — Juan Munoz had 21 points as Longwood routed High Point. Justin Hill had 15 points for Longwood (4-13, 3-8 Big South Conference).

John-Michael Wright had 27 points for the Panthers (3-7, 1-4), whose 21 first-half points were their lowest of the season.

Radford 97, Campbell 91 (3OT)

BUIES CREEK (AP) — Dravon Mangum had 16 points as Radford defeated Campbell in a triple overtime thriller.

Fah’Mir Ali buried 3-pointers near the end of regulation to tie it and again near the end of the second overtime forcing a third.

Josiah Jeffers and Lewis Djonkam added 15 points apiece for the Highlanders. Djonkam also had nine rebounds.

Shaquan Jules had 14 points for Radford (9-6, 8-1 Big South Conference), which won its fifth straight game.

Jordan Whitfield scored a career-high 28 points for the Fighting Camels (8-8, 4-5). Cedric Henderson Jr. scored 18 points and Joshua Lusane scored 13 with 13 rebounds and five assists.

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This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com