WASHINGTON - Georgia Tech responded like a veteran team that went to the 2004 NCAA tournament final.
With three sophomores and a freshman on the floor at the start, Virginia Tech looked like one that, literally, had never been in this setting before.
The fourth-seeded Hokies' Atlantic Coast Conference tournament debut didn't go as well as their inaugural season in the conference, as the fifth-seeded Yellow Jackets posted a 73-54 quarterfinal romp yesterday in a game that matched the regular season's only 8-8 teams.
Erasing any doubt of its NCAA tournament worthiness, Georgia Tech (18-10) used a 10-0 run late in the first half and a 9-0 run to open the second half, to turn a 23-19 deficit into a 39-25 lead.
The Yellow Jackets led by as many as 24 points en route to their most lopsided win ever in the ACC tournament, and for the first time in months resembled the team that won a game at last year's Final Four.
Georgia Tech will take its first winning streak in more than two months into today's semifinal against top-seeded North Carolina. That stretch of mediocrity began Jan. 12 with a 22-point loss in Chapel Hill.
The Yellow Jackets played 10 games without B.J. Elder, who lost a good portion of his senior season to a hamstring injury but scored a game-high 19 points yesterday. Jarrett Jack and Will Bynum scored 13 apiece as that three-guard attack combined to make five of its nine three-pointers.
"With B.J., Will and James controlling things, we know we're going to get good shots," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. "When we're playing well, we defend well and rebound well."
Virginia Tech (15-13) had 27 rebounds, three off its season low, and had just 19 field goals, its second-lowest total of the season. Senior Carlos Dixon got 12 points for the Hokies, who won in Atlanta in the only regular-season meeting between the teams.
"That was not representative of the last seven months," Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "We picked a bad night to play the way we did. ... It should not take away from what we accomplished this year."
GEORGIA TECH-McHenry 1-3 0-0 2, Schenscher 3-4 0-1 6, Elder 8-14 2-4 19, Jack 4-5 3-4 13, Bynum 4-9 3-4 13, Dickey 3-4 0-2 6, West 0-1 0-0 0, Morrow 3-7 0-0 8, Smith 1-3 2-3 4, Fredrick II 1-1 0-0 2, Tarver 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-51 10-18 73. VIRGINIA TECH-Washington 1-6 3-7 5, Dixon 5-11 0-0 12, Collins 4-11 1-2 9, Dowdell 1-7 4-6 6, Gordon 5-12 0-0 11, Harris 2-3 0-0 5, Krabbendam 1-1 0-0 2, Cooke 0-0 2-2 2, Calloway 0-0 0-0 0, King 0-0 0-0 0, Tucker 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 19-51 12-19 54. Half-Georgia Tech, 30-25. 3-point goals-Georgia Tech 7-15 (Jack 2-2, Bynum 2-4, Morrow 2-6, Elder 1-3), Virginia Tech 4-12 (Dixon 2-3, Harris 1-1, Gordon 1-4, Washington 0-1, Dowdell 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Georgia Tech 37 (Dickey, Smith 7), Virginia Tech 27 (Collins 7). Assists-Georgia Tech 14 (Bynum, Elder 3), Virginia Tech 8 (Gordon 3). Total fouls-Georgia Tech 21, Virginia Tech 18. A-20,301.
