March 5, 2003
By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Georgia Tech ended a season of misery on the road and kept Virginia’s late-season meltdown going strong Wednesday night, beating the Cavaliers 90-73 for its first road win in 11 tries.
The Yellow Jackets (13-13, 6-9 Atlantic Coast Conference) took control with a 21-12 run over the last 11 minutes of the first half, then hit 12 of their first 13 shots in the second half to lead by as many as 21.
Virginia (14-14, 5-10) lost its seventh in a row and its third straight at home, all since a 61-58 victory against North Carolina State made the Cavaliers 14-7 and seemingly poised to climb the ACC standings.
Now, they’ll need to either beat No. 13 Maryland here on Sunday or win a game in the ACC tournament, something they haven’t managed in their last seven attempts, to even qualify for consideration in the NIT field.
Marvin Lewis sparked Georgia Tech with 19 points, including 12 during a 26-16 run after halftime that gave the Yellow Jackets a 69-51 lead.
Virginia, meanwhile, had one sequence when Elton Brown missed two lay-ups from right in front of the basket and Travis Watson missed another.
Watson, starting for the first time in four games after being disciplined for being late to practice and missing a morning run, led Virginia with 24 points and 15 rebounds, and Devin Smith added 18 points.
After a 5-for-5 start from the field, Virginia went 22-for-62.
Georgia Tech, which came in having lost five in a row, had no such trouble converting its chances, especially in the second half. Apart from two 3-pointers by Lewis to end the opening run, most of the Yellow Jackets’ points came on slashing moves to the basket or easy putbacks.
They shot almost 55 percent overall, hitting 35 of 64 shots.
Jarrett Jack scored 14 points in the second half to lead the Yellow Jackets with a season-high 21 points. He also had seven assists. Chris Bosh added 13 points, Ed Nelson 11 and B.J. Elder 10 for Georgia Tech.
