North Carolina Pulls Rank on Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech had all five starters in double figures.

Georgia Tech had a 13-point lead with 12 minutes to play.

Georgia Tech had everything to gain and not all that much to lose.

Georgia Tech lost.

Top-ranked North Carolina escaped another ambush Tuesday night, surviving when 6-10 forward Joe Wolf made four overtime free throws to knock off No. 2-ranked Georgia Tech, 78-77, before 16,659 at The Omni here.

It had all the makings of an Atlantic Coast Conference upset, but North Carolina (7-1, 23-1) regrouped in time to take over sole possession of first place.

The Tar Heels outscored Georgia Tech (6-2, 17-3), 24-11, over the final 12 minutes of regulation, then took control in overtime.

North Carolina broke from a 70-70 tie with the first four points of overtime when Brad Daugherty hit a jumper and Kenny Smith hit a layup with 1:56 to play.

After Duane Ferrell rebounded Mark Price’s missed jumper and scored for the Yellow Jackets, Wolf gave the Tar Heels a 76-72 lead with two free throws with 46 seconds left.

Georgia Tech came back when guard Bruce Dalrymple grabbed one of his team-high 11 rebounds and scored to make it 76-74 with 29 seconds left.

Price, who hit just 6 of 21 from the floor, then stole North Carolina’s inbounds pass and was fouled.

Price, an 83% free-throw shooter, hit the first of a one-and-one. And missed the second.

“I knew as soon as it left my hand it was long,” Price said.

Asked if he had ever seen Price miss such a pressure free throw, Georgia Tech Coach Bobby Cremins said: “Not in that situation, no.”

Wolf grabbed the rebound and was fouled. A 73% free-throw shooter, Wolf hit both ends of his one-and-one to give North Carolina a 78-75 edge.

“We played a tremendous second half,” North Carolina Coach Dean Smith said. “We were getting outrebounded (with his big lineup), so we went with our quicker lineup.”

That quicker, three-guard alignment paid off. He removed Wolf in order to use Steve Hale (16 points), Jeff Lebo (12) and Smith (10 points, 9 assists). The trio created havoc on defense.

Georgia Tech shot just 35% (14 of 40) from the floor in the second half while North Carolina’s 45% shooting (18 of 40) helped get the Tar Heels back into the game.

“It wasn’t necessarily No. 1 vs. No. 2,” said Daugherty, who scored 22 points. “It was just two good teams.”

The Tar Heels, who trailed, 59-46, midway through the second half, reacted calmly to the comeback.

“The reason we thought we could come back is we’ve done it before,” Hale said. “Coach is excellent at teaching us there is always lots of time left.”

In the closing minutes, North Carolina began to turn up the pressure on Price, who hit one field goal the last 17 minutes.

“No one person can stop Price,” Hale said. “You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Kenny Smith. We tried to force Price out of his range and make him take shots he didn’t want to take.”

Cremins was philosophical after losing a chance to take over the No. 1 spot in the conference and, probably, the nation.

“It would have been great to win, but these kids are winners,” Cremins said. “I can’t ask any more of a team. It was a fantastic game, one of the best I’ve been involved in.

“The difference in the second half was that Hale and Smith were tremendous. There is no question North Carolina is the best team I’ve seen.”

Cremins was not about to find fault with Price.

“He has made so many in the past, I could care less that he missed that one,” Cremins said with a smile.

Cremins’ smile, however, would have looked more genuine had the result been different.

“I can’t think of anything negative to say,” Cremins said. “I’m not going to lose any sleep over this loss.”

Maybe because the Yellow Jackets, now a two-time loser to North Carolina this season, could get a third shot in the ACC tournament next month.