Washington, DC -- The Virginia Tech Hokies had hoped to come to the MCI Center and have a memorable first ACC tournament, but instead, it turned out to be one to forget. Georgia Tech used a 20-2 run that spanned half time to blow open a close game and cruise to a 73-54 win over the Hokies, who suffered through one of their worst shooting performances of the season, turned the ball over 18 times, and played listlessly after falling behind by double digits in the second half.

VT was led by Carlos Dixon with 12 points, one of just two starters in double figures. Jamon Gordon hit a floater in the lane late in the game to give him 11 points, along with 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Coleman Collins, who was well-defended by the Jackets, scored 9 points and led VT with 7 rebounds. BJ Elder, who missed the first game between the two teams, led Georgia Tech with 21 points, and Jarrett Jack and Will Bynum added 13 apiece as the trio of Elder/Jack/Bynum outscored their VT counterparts of Dixon/Gordon/Zabian Dowdell 47-29.

The Hokies were outshot by a wide margin, making just 37% (19-51) of their shots on a day when they missed open jumpers and blew multiple opportunities in close. Georgia Tech, on the other hand, poured in 55% of their shots, making 28-51. The Jackets outshot the Hokies from beyond the arc as well, making 7-15 (47%) to just 4-12 (33%) for VT.

Despite turning it over four times in the first three minutes of the game and shooting just 36% in the first half, the Hokies led 23-19 with 5:10 remaining in the half after a dunk by Deron Washington. Then things fell apart. To that point, Georgia Tech had been turning the ball over and suffering foul trouble, the combination of which had been helping the Hokies stay in the game (VT had 14 first-half points off of 13 GT turnovers). But over the last five minutes of the first half, Georgia Tech went on an 11-2 run to take a 30-25 lead. GT guard Jarrett Jack, who spent a large part of the first half on the bench, returned to action late in the half and spurred the run with two three-pointers.

Needing a strong start to the second half, the Hokies instead gave up nine straight points in just two and a half minutes to fall behind 39-25 with 17:27 to go. Dowdell made two free throws with 17:06 left to break a 20-2 run by Georgia Tech, an eight-minute stretch during which the Hokies made just 1-17 field goals. In one sequence early in the second half, Collins and Washington missed three point-blank, wide-open layups, symbolic of the Hokies' struggles to score.

Jack picked up his third foul and took a seat on the bench with 16:52 left, and the Hokies closed the gap to 10 points two times, at 41-31 and 43-33 with 15:07 left. But Georgia Tech put the pedal to the metal over the next 13 minutes and outscored the Hokies 23-10 to go up 66-43 with 3:35 left. During the run, the life went out of the Hokies, who couldn't buy a basket with gold ingots and then started to play listless defense.

No VT starter shot over 50%, and Washington (1-6, 5 points) and Dowdell (3-10, 6 points) suffered through particularly bad games. The Hokies were outrebounded 37-27, and the VT bench was outscored 20-11, with most of the Hokie bench points coming in garbage time.

The Hokies managed to force 22 turnovers by Georgia Tech, leading to a +4 turnover margin advantage for VT, but Virginia Tech was not able to take advantage of the disparity. Georgia Tech poured in 67% of their shots in the second half, as the Hokie defense grew porous and gave up easy buckets.

The Hokies finish the season 15-13 overall, and an NCAA tournament bid, always a long shot, is now very unlikely. The Hokies will wait and see if they receive an NIT bid, which is by no means a given. The 1994 Hokies finished 18-10, fourth in a strong Metro Conference, and didn't receive a bid, while two teams that finished below them in the conference standings did. Last season, the 15-14 Hokies were snubbed by the NIT, who invited Rutgers and West Virginia, teams the Hokies had beaten twice each. NCAA bids will be announced Sunday night, with NIT bids to follow.

2005 ACC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS

GEORGIA TECH (73)

                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
A Mchenry           23   1-3   0-0   1-1   1   2    2
L Schenscher        14   3-4   0-1   1-5   1   4    6
B Elder             28  8-14   2-4   1-2   3   0   19
J Jack              23   4-5   3-4   0-3   2   3   13
W Bynum             32   4-9   3-4   0-3   3   3   13
R Dickey            23   3-4   0-2   0-7   0   4    6
M West              18   0-1   0-0   4-6   1   2    0
A Morrow            15   3-7   0-0   0-0   1   0    8
J Smith             18   1-3   2-3   3-7   2   3    4
Z Fredrick II        2   1-1   0-0   0-0   0   0    2
T Tarver             4   0-0   0-0   0-1   0   0    0
  
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 28-51 10-18 10-35  14  21   73
_____________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.549, FT-.556. 3-Point Goals:
7-15, .467 (B Elder 1-3, J Jack 2-2, W Bynum 
2-4, A Morrow 2-6). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked
Shots: 2 (B Elder, L Schenscher). Turnovers: 
21 (R Dickey 5, B Elder 4, W Bynum 3, L 
Schenscher 2, J Jack 2, J Smith 2, A Mchenry,
A Morrow, T Tarver). Steals: 7 (A Mchenry 3, 
L Schenscher, M West, J Jack, A Morrow).


VIRGINIA TECH (54)

                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
D Washington        31   1-6   3-7   2-6   0   3    5
C Dixon             31  5-11   0-0   0-1   0   3   12
C Collins           29  4-11   1-2   4-7   0   3    9
Z Dowdell           34   1-7   4-6   1-1   2   1    6
J Gordon            36  5-12   0-0   1-3   3   4   11
S Harris             9   2-3   0-0   0-1   0   1    5
R Krabbendam         7   1-1   0-0   0-1   1   0    2
M Cooke             15   0-0   2-2   0-1   2   3    2
A Calloway           3   0-0   0-0   1-1   0   0    0
J King               1   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
C Tucker             4   0-0   2-2   1-1   0   0    2
  
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 19-51 12-19 10-23   8  18   54
_____________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.373, FT-.632. 3-Point Goals:
4-12, .333 (D Washington 0-1, C Dixon 2-3, Z 
Dowdell 0-3, J Gordon 1-4, S Harris 1-1). 
Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 6 (C Dixon 
2, C Collins, J Gordon, D Washington, R 
Krabbendam). Turnovers: 18 (Z Dowdell 5, C 
Collins 4, M Cooke 3, C Dixon 2, J Gordon 2, 
D Washington, J King). Steals: 5 (C Dixon 2, 
Z Dowdell, J Gordon, D Washington).


-----------------------------------
GEORGIA TECH         30  43   -  73
VIRGINIA TECH        25  29   -  54
----------------------------------- 

Technical fouls: None. A: 20,301. Officials: Gary 
Maxwell, Mike Wood, Reggie Cofer

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