SAN ANTONIO -- Georgia Tech gave Connecticut...

SAN ANTONIO -- Georgia Tech gave Connecticut its first loss of the season, way back in November.

Tonight, the Yellow Jackets want to give the Huskies their last.

If they can, Georgia Tech (28-9), a team that was unranked at the beginning of the season, will be an improbable national champion.

If they can’t, Connecticut (32-6), the No. 1 team at the outset, will be No. 1 at the end for the second time in six seasons.

So much has changed since Georgia Tech pulled a 77-61 upset in the semifinals of the preseason National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

“Going into New York, we knew we had an opportunity to go up there and make a name for ourselves,” Georgia Tech guard Jarrett Jack said.

They did, and here they are.

Georgia Tech Coach Paul Hewitt watched the tape again as he prepared for tonight’s NCAA title game at the Alamodome, and was struck by all the differences.

“That game was so long ago, it felt like two seasons ago,” he said.

Georgia Tech guard Will Bynum, the Arizona transfer whose drive to the basket beat Oklahoma State in the final moments Saturday at the Final Four, wasn’t even eligible to play yet in November.

Emeka Okafor, the unstoppable force of Connecticut’s comeback against Duke on Saturday, made only two baskets in that game, limited by back spasms that at times this season have felt “like two steel rods in my back.”

Charlie Villanueva, Connecticut’s 6-foot-11 freshman, had yet to play his first game because of an NCAA eligibility question.

And Rashad Anderson, the Connecticut guard who twice during the NCAA tournament has made six three-point baskets in a game, wasn’t yet a starter.

“It seems like a lifetime ago,” Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun said. “I know we got hit pretty good. I know they ran us off the floor. I don’t know if the November matchup was indicative. I hope it wasn’t.”

One reason: Connecticut shot 33.3% from the free-throw line in that game.

“We missed 20 free throws, and so many things were going wrong,” said guard Ben Gordon, who scored 13 points and didn’t have a three-pointer.

Okafor played 34 minutes and had six blocked shots and 13 rebounds, but his back affected him more on offense. He had nine points on two-for-10 shooting.

“I was hurting,” Okafor said. “I was trying to tough it out. I was really limited, and wasn’t as mobile as normal. It wasn’t much fun.”

The players who have been hurting lately are Georgia Tech’s B.J. Elder, still hampered by a sprained ankle, and Isma’il Muhammad, a star in the first meeting who has been slowed by patellar tendinitis.

Georgia Tech’s hopeful assertions that Elder would be close to 100% in Saturday’s game proved false. He played only 19 minutes and scored two points -- the only points the Yellow Jackets’ leading scorer has managed in the last three tournament games.

The Huskies hope some of the changes since the teams first met will make the outcome different.

But Georgia Tech has gotten better too.

Luke Schenscher, Georgia Tech’s 7-1 Australian center, scored two points in that game, but he is a far more effective player now, coming off a 19-point, 12-rebound effort against Oklahoma State.

“You know, he’s been really playing well these past couple of games,” Okafor said.

“I know he’s going to make things difficult for me, just the fact that he’s 7-1, 7-2 and can move pretty well.”

In the end, Connecticut was supposed to be here. Georgia Tech was not.

But the undersized Yellow Jackets somehow keep winning, with a combination of guard play, defense, an up-tempo game and something more intangible.

They don’t have a star, but they’re a team.

That’s a point of emphasis for Hewitt, who bemoans the star culture of today’s game.

“In the NBA, it used to be, growing up, it’s the Knicks versus the Bullets, or the Bucks versus the Celtics,” Hewitt said.

“Now it’s Shaq versus Yao Ming.

“What’s that? That’s not basketball. That’s tennis. I’m serious. That’s what’s wrong with our game today.”

Nobody’s billing this as an Okafor-vs.-Schenscher title bout.

It’s five-on-five, a powerhouse program against one that people keep discounting.

“It’s not going to make a difference when the game is four minutes to go. It doesn’t matter what people say,” Hewitt said.

Okafor said he agreed.

“It’s for the national championship,” he said. “If we had to play the Spurs, our intensity would be the same.”

Okafor visualizes what tonight could be like -- the end, the celebration, the victory.

“Emeka, on Sunday, just mentioned us cutting nets down,” Calhoun said. “Most coaches would shudder.

“Why? Why would you shudder when he dreams the greatest dream?”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Block Party

Emeka Okafor is averaging a Division I-leading 4.1 blocks per game this season. In three seasons at Connecticut, Okafor is averaging 4.3 blocks, which is the eighth-best mark since 1987, when blocks were first officially kept as an NCAA statistic. A look at how Okafor compares with some of the prominent college frontcourt players who were selected in the first round of the NBA draft.

*--* DAVID ROBINSON College...Navy Height...7-1 Blocks...351 Blocks per game...5.24 SHAQUILLE O’NEAL College...Louisiana State Height...7-1 Blocks...412 Blocks per game...4.58 TROY MURPHY College...Notre Dame Height...6-9 Blocks...425 Blocks per game...4.52 EMEKA OKAFOR College...Connecticut Height...6-9 Blocks...439 Blocks per game...4.3 THEO RATLIFF College...Wyoming Height...6-10 Blocks...425 Blocks per game...3.83 TIM DUNCAN College...Wake Forest Height...6-11 Blocks...481 Blocks per game...3.76 ALONZO MOURNING College...Georgetown Height...6-10 Blocks...453 Blocks per game...3.78 DIKEMBE MUTOMBO College...Georgetown Height...7-2 Blocks...354 Blocks per game...3.69 MARCUS CAMBY College...Massachusetts Height...6-11 Blocks...336 Blocks per game...3.65 RIK SMITS College...Marist Height...7-4 Blocks...345 Blocks per game...3.22

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