Georgia Tech Wins One With Cavalier Attitude

Only two games into its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule, Georgia Tech was winless and feeling the heat.

But now, the heat is on Virginia after Shaun Fein scored 25 points, including a fall-away three-point basket from about 24 feet with 46.9 seconds to play, as Georgia Tech stunned the 10th-ranked Cavaliers, 73-68, Tuesday night at Charlottesville, Va.

“I knew the shot clock was down to three, two, maybe one,” Fein said of the fadeaway from deep along the right wing, which gave Georgia Tech a 71-65 lead. “I just let it go. It felt good.”

And when it fell, the Yellow Jackets, 9-5 overall and 1-2 in the ACC, were home free.

“It was justice in a lot of ways,” Virginia Coach Pete Gillen said of the shot, which all but ended his lackluster team’s chances of winning.

“We weren’t sharp, we weren’t excited to play this game, as excited as Georgia Tech was. That’s unforgivable. It’s an ACC game. You’ve got to be excited to play an ACC game.”

Virginia (11-2, 1-2) was left wondering what has gone wrong. The Cavaliers were 10-0 when they entered conference play, but lost by 23 to Wake Forest and struggled to beat North Carolina State on Saturday night, then had 23 turnovers and only 20 field goals Tuesday night.

“I think we might have thought that we were better than we are,” Virginia’s Roger Mason said. “We have to realize that we have to come to play every game. We’re not a team that can just show up and beat ACC teams.”

No. 4 Tennessee 86, No. 16 Alabama 69--Vincent Yarbrough scored 18 points as the Volunteers (15-1, 2-0) coasted to a Southeastern Conference victory over the Crimson Tide (12-2, 1-1) at Knoxville, Tenn.

No. 6 Wake Forest 76, Florida State 53--Josh Howard scored 15 points to help the Demon Deacons (13-1, 2-1) to an ACC victory over the Seminoles (5-10, 0-2) at Winston-Salem, N.C.

No. 11 Syracuse 64, Rutgers 63--DeShaun Williams’ three-point basket with 2:01 to play was Syracuse’s only field goal over the final nine minutes, but the Orangemen (14-1, 3-0) held off the Scarlet Knights (8-6, 0-3) in a Big East game at Piscataway, N.J.

No. 22 Oklahoma 78, Texas A&M; 65--Aaron McGhee scored 24 points to lead the Sooners (12-2, 1-1) over the Aggies (6-8, 0-2) in a Big 12 game at Norman, Okla.

WOMEN

No. 1 Connecticut 76, Syracuse 63--Asjha Jones and Diana Taurasi scored 14 points each as the Huskies (12-0, 3-0) rolled over the Orangewomen (7-6, 1-2) in a Big East game at Syracuse, N.Y., for their 29th consecutive victory.

No. 3 Notre Dame 84, St. John’s 49--Ruth Riley had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Irish (15-0, 4-0) to a Big East rout of the Red Storm (5-8, 0-3) at New York.