Georgia Tech Upsets North Carolina

Georgia Tech merely wanted to prove it wasn’t a terrible team.

Instead, the Yellow Jackets wound up with a stunning upset victory.

Coming off a 41-point loss to Kentucky, Georgia Tech defeated seventh-ranked North Carolina, 66-64, Tuesday night at Atlanta, despite making its last field goal with eight minutes to play and failing to score in the final 4:48.

“What a roller coaster,” Coach Bobby Cremins said. “The Kentucky loss had a lot to do with this win. I made [the team] watch the first 20 minutes, and it’s brutal. If you watch that first 20 minutes and it doesn’t make you want to throw up, nothing will.”

The Yellow Jackets, 8-2 overall and 1-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, were routed by the third-ranked Wildcats, 80-39, on Saturday, falling behind 25-2 and making only 24% of their shots.

“One thing I said about this team is we have a lot of heart,” said Jason Floyd, who led Georgia Tech with 18 points. “We were really embarrassed and we wanted to come out and show some pressure and prove that we weren’t a terrible team.”

Georgia Tech led, 62-50, after Alvin Jones hit a turnaround jumper, but managed only four free throws the rest of the way. The final Yellow Jacket points came on two free throws by Jon Babul with a little less five minutes remaining.

Still, North Carolina (12-2, 0-1) couldn’t make it all the way back. The Tar Heels failed to make a shot after Max Owens’ three-pointer cut their deficit to 66-63 with 3:52 to play.

No. 4 Cincinnati 115, Houston 78--The Bearcats unleashed their full-court press and scored 62 points in the first half at Cincinnati.

Cincinnati improved to 10-0--the fifth-best start in school history--by making uncontested three-point shots and grinding up the overmatched Cougars (4-5) with its swarming defense in the Conference USA opener for both teams.

Pete Mickeal scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half and Alvin Mitchell had a career-high 21 as Cincinnati put up its biggest point total since a 116-63 victory over Dayton on Feb. 12, 1995.

No. 6 Stanford 94, Santa Clara 49--Arthur Lee scored 19 points and the Cardinal (9-2) made 10 of 19 three-point shots in routing the Broncos (4-6) in the championship game of the Stanford Invitational at Palo Alto.

Lee made five three-point shots and Mark Madsen scored 15 points for Stanford, which is 27-5 in the holiday tournament that started in 1981.

Nathan Fast scored 16 points for Santa Clara, which has been decimated by injuries. Point guard Brian Jones is sidelined for the season because of a dislocated knee cap and forward Darrell Teat, who is averaging 13 points, was limited by a sprained ankle to 15 minutes and only two points against Stanford.

Other than Fast, who made seven of 11 shots, no Bronco was in double figures. Santa Clara made 32% of its shots.

Stanford made 55%.

No. 9 Purdue 80, South Carolina 64--Jaraan Cornell made a season-high five three-point shots and scored 20 points to help the Boilermakers (12-1) stretch their winning streak to eight games with the victory over the Gamecocks (4-6) in the Jimmy V Classic at East Rutherford, N.J.

The streak is the longest for the Boilermakers since winning 11 in a row at the end of the 1995-96 season. South Carolina has lost four in a row.

Brian Cardinal scored 16 points and Greg McQuay had 14 for Purdue, which used its pressing defense and inside strength to overcome 52% shooting by the Gamecocks.

No. 14 St. John’s 81, Farleigh Dickinson 54--Marvis Thornton scored 15 points as the Red Storm (10-2) stretched its winning streak to seven games with the rout of the Knights (4-4) at New York.

Ron Artest and Tyrone Grant added 13 points apiece and Erick Barkley and Lavor Postell each had 11 for St. John’s, which has its best record after 12 games since going 10-2 in 1990-91.

Postell also had 12 rebounds, and Barkley had nine assists.

No. 15 Michigan State 68, Tulsa 58--Morris Peterson scored 21 points to lead the Spartans (8-3) over the Hurricanes (10-2) in the semifinals of the Pearl Harbor Classic at Laie, Hawaii.

Peterson scored 11 points during a 15-4 run that gave Michigan State a 25-10 lead midway through the first half.

Then, with Tulsa closing in late in the second half, Peterson accounted for eight points in a four minute span to help seal the victory.

Spartan point guard Mateen Cleaves had 15 points to go with seven assists, but also had eight turnovers.

No. 17 Minnesota 78, Montana State 64--Quincy Lewis scored 27 points and Joel Przybilla helped hold Nate Holmstadt, his former high school teammate, to nine points under his average as the Golden Gophers (8-1) overcame a slow start to defeat the Bobcats (4-5) at Minneapolis.

Holmstadt, the preseason player of the year in the Big Sky Conference, was a co-player of the year in Minnesota as a senior at Monticello High in 1994-95, where Przybilla was a 6-foot-6 freshman.

Holmstadt, a 6-8 forward, came into the game averaging 23 points, but managed only 14. Przybilla, who went on to become a two-time state player of the year at Monticello, is now a 7-1 freshman for the Gophers.

He entered the game second in the nation in blocks at 4.6 per game. He finished with eight points, five rebounds, five assists and three blocks.

No. 18 Oklahoma State 81, Nevada Las Vegas 69--Adrian Peterson and Desmond Mason each scored 21 points to lead the Cowboys (7-3) over the Rebels (4-6) at Las Vegas.

Oklahoma State led by only two points with 4:32 to play before going on a 16-2 run to put the game out of reach. Joe Adkins scored nine of his 10 points on three three-point shots to spark the rally.

Shawn Marion and Kaspars Kambala led Nevada Las Vegas with 18 points apiece. Kevin Simmons added 16 points for the Rebels, who lost their fourth in a row and are 0-4 against ranked teams.

Mississippi 75, No. 23 Oklahoma 72--Keith Carter scored 20 points and 5-5 freshman Jason Harrison made five of six free throws down the stretch to help the Rebels (9-2) hold off the Sooners (7-2) in the semifinals of the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic at San Juan.

Michael Johnson scored 20 for Oklahoma but he and the Sooners’ other starting guard, Tim Heskett, were guilty of 11 turnovers. Heskett was in the lineup a day after a jolting elbow to the head in a game against American-Puerto Rico, a flagrant foul that earned American’s Ramon Gomez a one-game suspension and cost his team a 2-0 forfeit loss.

No. 24 Pittsburgh 78, Howard 42--Vonteego Cummings broke out of a scoring slump with 21 points to lead the Panthers (8-4) over the Bison (0-9) at Pittsburgh.

The Panthers, playing for the first time since blowing a four-point lead in the final nine seconds of a 70-69 loss to top-ranked Connecticut on Dec. 12, led only 27-24 at halftime.

But Cummings scored on a breakaway dunk immediately after the second-half tipoff, then added three three-point baskets during a 22-4 run over the first eight minutes of the half.

Cummings, who made only two of 18 shots while scoring six points against Connecticut, seemed to gain confidence with every shot, often motioning for the ball while moving into three-point range. He made eight of 13 shots, four of six from three-point range.

OTHER GAMES

Reserve Thomas Kilgore returned from a two-game suspension to score 17 points, leading California (8-1) to a 94-65 victory over Southwestern Louisiana (4-5) in the championship game of the Golden Bear Classic at Oakland. . . . Terrance Roberson scored 18 points to lead Fresno State (8-4) to a 94-71 victory over Chicago State (1-8) in the first round of the Coors Light Classic at Fresno. . . . Alex Jensen had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Tony Harvey scored 15 points for Utah (7-4) in a 79-49 victory over St. Francis (Pa.) (3-6) at Salt Lake City. . . . Bobby Lazor scored seven of his 22 points in the final 3:33 to help Arizona State (6-4) to an 85-77 victory over Marist (8-1) at Tempe, Ariz. . . . Wally Szczerbiak scored 20 points to lead Miami of Ohio (7-2) to a 58-52 victory against San Diego (6-3) in the opening round of the Coors Light Classic at Fresno. . . . MC Mazique scored 15 points and Jeremy Hays added 14 to help Alabama (10-2) to a 59-49 victory over Oregon State (5-2) in the semifinals of the Pearl Harbor Classic at Laie, Hawaii.