ATLANTA - After watching guard Sheldon McClellan post his sixth game with 20 or more points, Miami coach Jim Larranaga could only look at the scoresheet and shake his head.

"He took, what, nine shots today? If I was him I probably would have taken 20 shots," Larranaga said.

McClellan was 7-for-9 shooting from the field and scored 22 points to lead No. 17 Miami to a 75-68 win over Georgia Tech on Sunday.

The senior scored 13 in the second half and was 6-for-8 from the line to help the Hurricanes to their second straight win and fifth in their last five games.

"The kid is great. He doesn't realize how good he is," Larranaga said. "Guys like him, he's so unselfish. He's so team-oriented. He's a great guy to play with, a terrific young man to coach ... I just love having him in our program. And I think he's going to play at the next level."

Miami (18-4, 7-3 ACC) also got 15 points from guard Davon Reed, 14 points from guard Ja'Quan Newton and 10 points from forward Kamari Murphy. Center Tonye Jekiri had a game-high nine rebounds.

Georgia Tech (12-11, 2-8) was led by guard Marcus Georges-Hunt with 19 points. Guard Adam Smith had 14 points and five assists and guard Tadric Jackson added 13 points. It was the third straight loss for Georgia Tech.

"They've got a very experienced team and they played at the same pace the whole game," Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory said. "They waited for us to make some mistakes on offense or have some breakdowns on defense and extended the lead. That's what they did in the first run and we responded pretty well and they did it again later and we responded well."

Georgia Tech led by as many as six points in the first half, as forward Nick Jacobs was effective on the low post and scored six of the team's first eight points on short jump hooks. Jacobs wound up with eight in the first half and didn't score in the second half, although Larranaga said the defense did not change.

Miami stayed close on its strength on the offensive boards. The Hurricanes had seven offensive rebounds in the first half and they contributed to 22 points in the paint.

Miami took a 33-32 lead at halftime when Murphy scored on a jumper with 33.9 seconds left. Georgia Tech failed to score in the final 2:58 of the half.

The Hurricanes maintained the lead in the second half and had an answer each time Georgia Tech had a chance to tie. Nine times the Yellow Jackets got to within one or two points, but they could never draw even.

"Our guys hung in there and did some good things down the stretch, but we still got outrebounded again," Larranaga said. "We know that's an area of the game that we need to really improve on to play against the high-caliber teams that we're facing in the ACC."

Miami put it away in the final two minutes. Leading by three, the defense drew a charge and Newton responded with a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to give the Hurricanes a 66-60 lead with 1:25 left.

"Sometimes you've got to be good and sometimes you've got to be lucky," Larranaga said. "In that particular case he was both."

Georgia Tech didn't help its comeback efforts with a poor effort from the free-throw line. The Yellow Jackets shot just 6 of 13 from the line in the second half. Combined with 14 turnovers, the most committed by Georgia Tech in an ACC game, was a formula for failure.

"You can probably get away with that if you go to the free-throw line and make the free throws," Gregory said. "But you can't combine those two and that was a big difference in the game. You're talking a one possession game. You can't have empty possessions."

Miami made 15 of 21 free throws and was 12-for-14 in the second half.

NOTES: Miami scored 36 points in the paint to exceed its season average of 32.6. ... Miami G Sheldon McClellan has scored at least 14 points in 17 games. G Angel Rodriguez has 23 assists over the last three games and had six on Sunday. ... Georgia Tech C Ben Lammers ended a three-game streak of games without a block with three on Sunday. He leads the team with 29. G Marcus Georges-Hunt made three 3-pointers, the most against an ACC opponent this year. ... Up next: Miami plays again on Tuesday at home against Pittsburgh. Georgia Tech hosts Wake Forest on Wednesday.