Georgia Tech advances to ACC final

By Carroll Rogers

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Awake at 5:30 a.m. Saturday, blurry-eyed from an action-packed ACC tournament, Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt watched videotape of his Yellow Jackets nearly spoil a 16-point lead to N.C. State on Feb. 6.

"I was getting nervous just watching it," Hewitt said.

By the light of day, and with a shot at their first ACC final appearance in five years on the line against N.C. State, it had to come down to an inbounds play.

But this time, with 12.4 seconds left, the Jackets kept their composure and their spacing on the floor and got the ball to senior D'Andre Bell, who was fouled and made two free throws to give Tech the cushion it needed for a 57-54 win.

As inconsistent as Tech has been from one game to the next this season, even one four-minute stretch to the next, they have picked a fine time to win three consecutive ACC games for the first time this season. For their efforts, they'll play top-seeded Duke for the title at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Hewitt took Tech to the ACC finals in 2005, but the Jackets haven't won the tournament since 1993.

The Jackets (22-11) came to Greensboro saying they would handle their NCAA tournament bubble issues by winning the ACC tournament. Junior Gani Lawal said he liked their draw, which featured a team they had beaten twice in North Carolina, a team they owed revenge in Maryland, and ultimately No. 11-seed N.C. State, which knocked off Clemson and Florida State.

Three days later, he sounds like he really meant it.

"I've said all year, we're one of the top teams in this conference, and that's what you've seen these last few days," said Lawal, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds Saturday. "It hasn't been pretty, but we scrapped it out and pulled out some big wins."

Tech, which went 7-9 in the ACC regular season, made it to the final despite putting up the lowest free-throw shooting percentage in a three-game run in ACC tournament history (54.7).

They've had trouble against the press and committed seemingly unprovoked turnovers. They have bouts of forgetting about the prizes they have in the post in Lawal and Derrick Favors, like they did much of the second half against N.C. State. But they have found them in key moments here, such as when Glen Rice Jr. drove to the baseline and passed back out to Favors for a 15-footer that put Tech up 47-46 with 2:50 left. The Jackets wouldn't trail again.

Favors, who has averaged 15.3 points and 9.3 rebounds in Tech's three wins, finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. He forced N.C. State's leading scorer Tracy Smith into early foul trouble and two airballs, one with 2:17 left.

But Favors' biggest contribution might have been what he didn't do, when he walked away from a potential confrontation with Javier Gonzalez following an intentional foul. Gonzalez had grabbed Favors' jersey to prevent a breakaway dunk, sending him spinning to the ground. While Bell, Zachery Peacock and Glen Rice Jr. rushed to his defense, Favors walked up court.

"I just didn't want to get suspended for two games or something like that, so I just walked away from it," Favors said. "I just let it go."

He wound up with three points out of that play after making one of two free throws, and then on the ensuing inbounds play, scoring on a reverse layup to put Tech up 52-46 with 1:27 to play. From there Tech made just enough free throws, five of nine, and got hand up on Gonzalez's last-ditch 3-point attempt.

And a day that started tensely for Hewitt ended with both his arms thrust in the air.