Georgia Tech upsets fifth-ranked Duke

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By Carroll Rogers

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

For all the promise surrounding this Georgia Tech team, the Yellow Jackets don't have to justify it anymore.

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Tech's Zachery Peacock, who came off the bench to score 11 points, gets a hug from a Jackets fan after No. 20 Georgia Tech's 67-71 upset of the No. 5 Duke Blue Devils.

Johnny Crawford, jcrawford@ajc.com Tech's Zachery Peacock, who came off the bench to score 11 points, gets a hug from a Jackets fan after No. 20 Georgia Tech's 67-71 upset of the No. 5 Duke Blue Devils.

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Johnny Crawford, jcrawford@ajc.com Saturday's win makes coach Paul Hewitt 2-7 against Duke.

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They knocked off No. 5 Duke 71-67 on Saturday, and they did it four days after taking a loss to the gut from a rebuilding Georgia team.

If it tells you anything about the 20th-ranked Yellow Jackets' own expectations, they refused to call it an upset -- afterward and before, when they believed it was going to happen.

"We weren't going into this thing talking about upset," sophomore point guard Iman Shumpert said. "We went into this thing talking about getting a win and going to Virginia. It wasn't like last year before we played them, [saying] ‘We got to make magic happen.'"

No, the only magic the Yellow Jackets (12-3, 1-1 ACC) needed Saturday was the energy in their press, a hand in Duke's face behind the 3-point line and another big-time game from Gani Lawal.

Lawal finished with 21 points and nine rebounds. He sank a turnaround jumper with 1:02 left to put Tech up 64-60, safe from last-ditch 3-pointers by Duke.

The Blue Devils (13-2, 1-1) were having a hard enough time making those fall anyway. Duke, the best 3-point percentage team in the ACC, made only six of 28 3-pointers in the game. With that, Tech had cut them off at the knees and kept hold of their ankles. Duke had beaten its first three ranked opponents by an average of 22 points. Tech never let them lead by more than six points in the second half.

Jon Scheyer made a 3-pointer with 7.5 seconds to go, but by then Tech had all but sealed the win by making seven of their last eight free throws. Scheyer made one desperation 3-point heave, trying to draw contact at the buzzer, but the only contact Tech offered was a celebratory punch in the air by Zachery Peacock.

The victory was Tech's first over an opponent ranked in the top five of the AP poll since a victory against Wake Forest on Jan. 27, 2005. The students among the season's first home sellout crowd of 9,191 stormed the court and were packed in around Lawal as he was interviewed by ESPN's Jay Bilas.

Later, Lawal put into perspective how Tech kept its confidence despite Tuesday's loss to Georgia.

"We knew if we execute on the offense end we'll get what we want, and on the defensive end our intensity had to be high, which it was," Lawal said. "I still don't feel like we execute like we're supposed to, but we made up for our mistakes with our effort."

Lawal continued to assert himself like he has for three games. After scoring only two points against Winston-Salem State, Lawal has 29, 21 and 21 points in the past three. He had such a feel for the flow Saturday he was calling for Shumpert just to put the ball on the rim for him.

"He kept telling me ‘They're switching on me, I got a clear lane to the basket, just put it on the rim,' " Shumpert said. "I'm not going to just jack up a bad shot, but he kept yelling ‘Put it on the rim or get it inside to me.' "

Sure enough, Shumpert missed a layup with 8:02 left, and Lawal slammed home a two-handed dunk. Tech's inside duo of Lawal and Derrick Favors was setting the tone for the game, even if Duke held Favors to seven points with steady double-teams.

Tech outrebounded Duke 26-12 in the second half. Tech limited Duke's versatile Kyle Singler to only nine points on 2-for-13 shooting. And as a team, Tech kept coming after Duke with fresh bodies.

"They wore us down some, and that can tell in your shooting when your legs aren't there," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "And their defensive presence ... they're not giving up. They played well. They deserved to win."

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