Georgia Tech Beats Ranked Team Again

Georgia Tech playing in the NCAA tournament? The idea doesn’t seem so ludicrous anymore.

The Yellow Jackets, picked to finish near the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference, defeated another nationally ranked team Sunday, this time No. 6 Virginia, 62-56, at Atlanta.

First-year Coach Paul Hewitt told his players at the beginning of the season that his goal was an NCAA bid, even though Georgia Tech hasn’t been to the tournament since 1996.

“That’s our goal,” said Tony Akins, who scored 19 points and did a smothering defensive job on Virginia guard Donald Hand. “Coach told us if we don’t make the tournament, we haven’t accomplished anything. If we keep it up, that’s where we’re going to be.”

Georgia Tech, 14-8 overall and 6-5 in the ACC, defeated a ranked team for the second time in five days and fourth time this season. The Yellow Jackets are tied for third in the ACC after beating Virginia (16-6, 5-6) for the second time.

The Cavaliers lost for the fifth time in six road games as Hand--their No. 2 scorer at 14.7 points a game--had only two points, missing all nine of his shots from the field.

No. 3 Duke 101, North Carolina State 75--After a couple of mediocre games by their standards, the Blue Devils (22-2, 10-1 in the ACC) shot 53%, forced 24 turnovers and used a 17-0 first-half run to rout the Wolfpack (11-11, 3-7) at Durham, N.C.

Jason Williams had 23 points and each of Duke’s starters scored in double figures. Williams had a season-low eight points in each of the previous two games.

No. 12 Iowa State 72, Missouri 64--Martin Rancik missed nine minutes of the game at Ames, Iowa after injuring his right ankle but still managed to score 23 points, and Jamaal Tinsley had eight of his 18 points in the final 4:17 to lead the Cyclones (21-3, 9-2 in the Big 12) to their 33rd consecutive home victory.

Missouri (15-8, 6-4) played without its two leading scorers, the injured Kareem Rush and suspended Clarence Gilbert. Brian Grawer helped the Tigers stay close by scoring 24 points on eight-for-14 three-point shooting.

No. 20 Notre Dame 69, West Virginia 66--One of Troy Murphy’s lowest-scoring games of the season couldn’t keep the Irish (16-5, 8-2 in the Big East) from winning their seventh consecutive game.

Murphy, who came into the game averaging 23.7 points, scored only 15, but his final one--a free throw with a minute left--gave Notre Dame the lead for good at Morgantown, W.Va. The Mountaineers (13-8, 4-6) made only 25.8% of their shots in the second half.

No. 23 Fresno State 86, Hawaii 63--The Bulldogs (20-3, 9-1 in the Western Athletic Conference) forced 26 turnovers at Fresno in avenging their only conference loss and reached 20 victories for the sixth consecutive season under Coach Jerry Tarkanian.

Hawaii (10-12, 4-7) ended Fresno State’s 13-game winning streak with a 91-73 victory on Feb. 1 in Honolulu.

OTHER GAMES: Casey Calvary had 28 points and 12 rebounds for Gonzaga (18-5, 10-0 in the West Coast Conference) in a 90-64 victory over St. Mary’s (2-21, 0-10) at Spokane, Wash. It was the Bulldogs’ school-record 12th consecutive victory. . . . . Kirk Haston scored 30 points and Jared Jeffries had 26 for Indiana (15-9, 6-4 in the Big Ten) in a 72-59 victory over Michigan (9-13, 3-8) at Bloomington, Ind. . . . Marquette (12-9, 7-3 in Conference USA) used a 12-2 run to take command with four minutes left in a 75-69 victory over Saint Louis (12-10, 4-5) at Milwaukee.

WOMEN

Florida had a record home crowd of 12,222 hoping to see an upset of No. 2 Tennessee, but the Lady Vols (25-1, 11-0 in the Southeastern Conference) used a 25-4 run in the second half to pull away for a 103-73 victory over the No. 6 Gators (20-3, 8-2). Tennessee’s Gwen Jackson had 20 points and 10 rebounds. . . .No. 3 Connecticut (20-2, 10-1 Big East) avenged a loss in its last game in Boston with a 78-53 victory over Boston College (8-14, 2-9). . . . Katie Douglas made only two of 10 shots, but her layup with 17 seconds left in a second overtime proved decisive for No. 5 Purdue 22-4, 12-1 in the Big Ten) in a 74-71 victory over Ohio State (14-8, 4-8) at Columbus, Ohio. . . . No. 13 Xavier (21-2, 11-1 in the Atlantic 10) opened with a 14-2 run and went on for a 92-73 victory over Fordham (5-18, 2-10) at New York.

Marie Ferdinand scored 26 points, including 10 the final 11 for No. 14 Louisiana State (17-6, 7-3 in the SEC) in a 62-58 victory over Arkansas (15-9, 5-6) at Fayetteville, Ark. . . . Jackie Stiles, the nation’s leading scorer at 31 points a game, had 25 points for No. 15 Southwest Missouri State (18-4, 12-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference) in a 91-65 victory over Evansville (11-10, 7-6) at Springfield, Mo. . . . Chantelle Anderson scored 24 points to lead No. 18 Vanderbilt (16-7, 5-5 in the SEC) to a 72-58 victory over Mississippi (15-8, 3-7) at Oxford, Miss. . . . No. 20 Wisconsin 15-8, 9-4 in the Big Ten) held Northwestern (4-19, 0-13) to 29% shooting at Evanston, Ill., and won, 70-54. . . . No. 25 Clemson (16-8, 7-6 in the ACC) made 21 of 23 free throws in a 72-55 victory over Wake Forest (11-13, 3-10) at Winston-Salem, N.C.