Jan. 22, 2005
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s Isma’il Muhammad missed two free throws with 5.5 seconds left and Virginia Tech survived a frantic final seconds for a 70-69 upset Saturday, handing the 12th-ranked Yellow Jackets their third straight loss.
Following Muhammad’s second miss, Mario West rebounded and missed a putback for Georgia Tech, then Ra’Sean Dickey and Muhammad couldn’t tip in the ball.
The Hokies claimed their first road win in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Carlos Dixon led Virginia Tech (10-6 overall, 3-2 ACC) with 21 points, and Zabian Dowdell added 18.
Will Bynum matched his career high with 28 points for Georgia Tech (11-5, 2-3), which suffered its first home loss of the season. Jarrett Jack added 15 points and Muhammad had 14.
Georgia Tech senior guard B.J. Elder, the team’s second-leading scorer, missed his fifth straight game with a hamstring injury. Elder practiced during the week but was not in uniform for the game.
Virginia Tech, which has won four straight, including three ACC games by a total of four points, was up by 11 midway through the second half.
Bynum sparked the comeback when he hit a 3-pointer with 8:36 left. Bynum added another 3 a couple of minutes later, and his steal set up a three-point play by Muhammad with 6:22 left, cutting Virginia Tech’s lead to 61-59.
Finally, Bynum pulled the Yellow Jackets even at 61 with a jumper at the 5:50 mark, but Georgia Tech didn’t pull ahead until Bynum sank two free throws with 53.8 seconds left for a 69-68 advantage.
Dixon answered with a basket to give the Hokies a 70-69 lead with 36 seconds left. After a miss by Dickey, a scramble for the loose ball led to a jump ball, with possession to the Yellow Jackets, with 10.8 seconds left.
Muhammad went to the line with a shot to at least tie it, but he couldn’t convert and Georgia Tech ended up with it’s first home loss since Feb. 25, 2004, against N.C. State.
Georgia Tech, No. 3 in The Associated Press preseason poll, fell out of the top 10 with back-to-back road losses to North Carolina and N.C. State. The Yellow Jackets had a six-day break before returning to Alexander Memorial Coliseum, where they were 9-0 before Saturday.
A 10-0 run gave the Yellow Jackets a 22-13 lead midway through the first half. But Jack sat out about 6 minutes after picking up his second foul with seven minutes left in the half, and without their leading scorer the Yellow Jackets could not continue to pull away.
Dowdell had 12 points in the half as Virginia Tech fought back for a 33-33 halftime tie.
CHARLES ODUM
AP Sports Writer
