Feb 7, 2004
By ELIZABETH A. DAVIS
AP Sports Writer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – With some strong outside shooting, Georgia Tech looked more like the dominant team it was earlier this season.
Marvin Lewis scored 24 points and B.J. Elder added 20 to lead the No. 15 Yellow Jackets to a 77-62 victory over Tennessee on Saturday.
Georgia Tech (17-5) grabbed the lead early in the first half and never relinquished it, avenging a last-second loss to the Volunteers in Atlanta last year.
The Yellow Jackets started the season 12-0 and were ranked as high as third but then went 5-4 in their next nine games before Saturday.
“It’s a time when you start to find out how much you have,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. “Good teams show up in February. We haven’t separated ourselves from the pack yet.”
The Vols (11-8) had no answer for Georgia Tech’s perimeter shooting.
Lewis was 5-of-6 from 3-point range, and Georgia Tech went 8-of-16 overall.
The Yellow Jackets took control in the second half with a 13-2 run started by two 3-pointers by Lewis. Elder finished it with a 3 and a pull-up jumper that made it 54-38.
Then Georgia Tech withstood a rally by Tennessee, which cut a 16-point deficit to six with a 13-3 run.
During the spurt, Lewis was called for an intentional foul when he hit Tennessee’s Major Wingate on a breakaway layup. Wingate went to the bench holding his left arm, and John Winchester missed one of two free throws.
Marvin Lewis drives between Tennessee’s Stanley Asumnu and Dane Bradshaw during the second half.
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Georgia Tech restored its lead to 10 on a basket by Isma’il Muhammed and a tip-in by Lewis.
After that, the Vols got as close as seven. Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson was called for a technical when he slapped the scorer’s table in protest of an illegal screen call that wiped out C.J. Watson’s 3-pointer.
Will Bynum made both free throws with 4:55 to go to put Georgia Tech ahead 67-56.
“I told our guys to give Tech credit, that we’ve hit a wall,” Peterson said. “We seemed to lack energy. Our shots weren’t falling.”
Watson led Tennessee with 17 points, and Brandon Crump had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jemere Hendrix grabbed 13 rebounds for the Vols.
Georgia Tech, which came in holding opponents to 37.7 percent shooting, held Tennessee to 30 percent from the field (18-of-60). The Yellow Jackets were 25-of-48 (52 percent) and often used a full-court press.
“We pressed a lot more than we had in the past, so we just wanted to make sure they had us in their faces at all times,” Lewis said. “I think that’s what made us successful.”
Tennessee couldn’t get warmed up behind the line. Scooter McFadgon, the Vols’ most prolific 3-point shooter, was held to 1-of-7 from beyond the arc and finished with eight points.
