Dec. 1, 2003
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech forward Isma’il Muhammad was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week Monday after being named the tournament Most Valuable Player in last week’s Preseason NIT at Madison Square Garden in New York.
It is the second straight week a Tech player has been honored by the conference. Point guard Jarrett Jack was so named last week.
The 6-6 junior from Atlanta captured the MVP honor after leading Georgia Tech to the tournament championship last week, helping the Yellow Jackets knock off No. 1-ranked Connecticut, 77-61, in the semi-finals, and No. 25 Texas Tech, 85-65, in the championship game.
Muhammad scored 38 points in 38 minutes of playing time off the bench, grabbed eight rebounds, and made 16 of 20 field goal attempts and 6 of 11 free throws in the two games, which improved the Yellow Jackets’ record to 5-0.
He scored a game-high 22 points and taking six rebounds in 22 minutes against the Huskies, hitting 9 of 13 shots from the floor and 4 of 5 from the free throw line. Against Texas Tech, Muhammad scored 16 points with four assists and no turnovers. He was a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor, went 2-for-4 from the line and grabbed two rebounds despite playing just 16 minutes due to cramps.
He sparked the Jackets almost immediately upon entering the game in each case and electrified the Madison Square Garden crowd with his acrobatic dunks. In the championship game against Texas Tech, Muhammad scored on two layups and a slam as Tech went from a 6-3 deficit to an 18-15 lead it would not relinquish. Against Connecticut, he drove for two layups as Tech erased an early 6-0 deficit, scored 23 of the game’s next 30 points and led the rest of the way.
Tech’s next game is 7 p.m. Wednesday night at Ohio State in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, a game which will be nationally televised on ESPN.
