Jan 14, 2003
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA – Marvin Lewis scored a career-high 33 points and Georgia Tech made 28 of 31 free throws to beat Florida State 81-74 Tuesday night.
The Yellow Jackets (8-5, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) improved to 7-0 at home and are off to their best start in the league since beginning 3-0 in the 1995-96 season.
Florida State (9-5, 0-3) made repeated runs at the Yellow Jackets, but never could pull even. Tim Pickett, fifth in the ACC at 18 points per game, was held to 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting.
Lewis was at the opposite end of the spectrum. The junior guard hit 11 of 13 shots from the field – including 6 of 8 outside the 3-point arc – to eclipse his previous career high of 28 points, set in the season opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Lewis made his final field goal with 9:35 remaining, but connected on five free throws in the last minute to get his career high and seal the victory for the Yellow Jackets.
He got help from freshman Chris Bosh, who had his seventh double-double of the year, scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. B.J. Elder added 14 points.
Anthony Richardson led the Seminoles with 20 points and nine rebounds. He hurt his right leg with 2:40 remaining and had to go to the sideline to get ice. By the time he returned with 1:26 left, the Seminoles were down 73-61.
Florida State kept fouling, and Georgia Tech kept making free throws to stave off any hopes of a comeback.
That was essentially the theme of the game.
In the first half, Florida State cut a 12-point deficit to 34-31 with just over two minutes remaining. But the Yellow Jackets closed the period with an 8-0 run, which included a 3 by Elder and Lewis’ buzzer-beating trey that gave his team a 42-31 lead going to the locker room.
The Seminoles crept back in the game, closing the gap to 53-51 when Richardson drove right through the defense for a lay-in with 11:06 to go. Lewis stepped up again, responding with back-to-back 3s that quickly gave the Yellow Jackets some breathing room.
Florida State made one last push, cutting Georgia Tech’s lead to 65-61 when Richardson made a couple of free throws with 4:45 left.
But the way the Yellow Jackets were shooting free throws, that was as close as Florida State would get.
The Seminoles were also accurate at the line, but got less than half as many attempts. Florida State made 13 of 14 free throws.
