For the third time this season, Georgia Tech got the best of the Virginia Cavaliers.
The Yellow Jackets got 20 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks from center Alvin Jones, who almost single-handedly propelled Tech into the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals with a 74-69 win.
In the final three minutes Friday, Jones scored two buckets in the low post, assisted on a Darryl LaBarrie 3-pointer that put the Jackets up for good and blocked two Cavalier shots on drives to the basket.
“They’re a very athletic team and that’s one of their strong points,”Jones said. “When they really need a basket, they try to penetrate. I was just fortunate to get a hand on a lot of those layups. Every time they went to the basket, I tried to alter their shot in some way.”
Jones’ defense, LaBarrie’s clutch shooting (13 points) and point guard Tony Akins’ play down the stretch (16 points, six assists) improved Georgia Tech’s record to 17-11 for the season. Most observers see that mark as good enough for the NCAA Tournament, especially with three wins over Virginia (20-8) and other quality victories against Maryland, UCLA and Kentucky.
“Not thinking about it. We’re still alive in the ACC Tournament,”Tech head coach Paul Hewitt said. “As far as all the conjecture, we can take care of that on our own if we can play well (Saturday) and get into Sunday.”
After a dreadful first half that saw Tech struggle out to a 26-24 lead, Virginia got hot and built a pair of five-point leads.
Adam Hall, who finished with 14 points before fouling out, drained a 3-pointer early in the half to put the Cavs up 34-29. Tech, buoyed by the home crowd of 40,083 at the Georgia Dome, answered every challenge and stayed in it until the closing minutes.
Chris Williams, who led Virginia with 20 points, made a pair of amazing shots in the lane to put the Cavs ahead by one, but center Travis Watson and Hall fouled out in rapid succession, setting up Tech’s big finish.
After Jones’ score in the post gave the Jackets a 66-65 lead, he fed LaBarrie in the corner for a 3. Jon Babul drained two free throws in the final seconds to seal it.
“It was a microcosm of our other games this season against Georgia Tech,”Cavs head coach Pete Gillen said. “Again, it came down to the last couple of minutes. They just make enough plays to beat us.”
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Notes: Tech now moves on to meet the top-seeded Tar Heels, who knocked off the Yellow Jackets 84-70 and 82-69 this season. “We’ve had success in spurts against them, the first half here in Atlanta we had a 12-point lead at the half,”Hewitt said. “The game in Chapel Hill, we had some good spurts. We’ve got to maintain them. There’s some things I think we can do to disrupt them.”
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