GREENSBORO, N.C. – For four days Georgia Tech had been in dogged pursuit 0f an NCAA tournament berth, of respect, of an ACC tournament title that nobody but perhaps the Yellow Jackets thought was within reach.
After pursuing top-seeded Duke for 39 minutes and 42 seconds Sunday to come within one point, it was no wonder the Yellow Jackets didn't know how to react after Jon Scheyer's 3-pointer stopped them short in a 65-61 loss.
Tech had harassed Scheyer into 3-for-12 shooting until there were 18 seconds left, when he found a little separation from Glen Rice Jr. behind a screen set by 7-footer Brian Zoubek and rose up for the winning shot.
Duke won its ninth ACC title in 12 years and Tech fell just shy of its first ACC title in 17 years.
Asked a question in the post-game news conference, Tech senior Zachery Peacock leaned into the microphone but words wouldn't come.
Peacock was hit in the jaw going for a rebound with 3:36 left and went down on the baseline in pain. Yet there was more than that blow and four days of banging that had him worn down and choked up.
"Mentally I'm hurt," Peacock said later in the locker room. "I felt like we should have won this game."
It wasn't too long after Peacock went down momentarily that Tech made its surprising 9-0 run. The team that should have been more tired – Duke had a bye in the first round as the No. 1 seed – mustered the bigger energy burst.
Iman Shumpert nailed a 3-pointer to start the rally and pulled Tech within 60-59 of Duke after dishing to Derrick Favors for a dunk with 47.9 seconds left. That was as close as the Yellow Jackets would come in their attempt to become the lowest seed – seventh – to win the tournament.
"Duke is a team that hardly ever gets rattled and we had them right where we wanted them," said Tech guard Moe Miller, who scored 10 points off the bench and had a late 3-pointer roll in and back out. "Scheyer just hit a big three at the end."
Tech would score once more on a Shumpert drive, but Kyle Singler put it away for Duke with nine seconds left with the last two of his ACC championship game-record 14 free throws.
After scoring a career-high 30 points in Duke's 19-point win over Tech in Durham, including 8 of 10 3-pointers, Singler was held to 3-for-15 shooting from the floor, but he went 14 for 16 from the free-throw line. He was named tournament MVP. The award could have gone to Scheyer, too.
"At the end, their kid stepped up and made an unbelievable shot," said Tech coach Paul Hewitt, now 0 for 2 in ACC tournament final games.
That shot took Favors from likely tournament MVP to first-team All-tournament.
The freshman phenom scored a career-high 22 points Sunday to go with 11 rebounds for his second double-double in four days. He averaged 17 points and 9.8 rebounds in the four games.
"Somebody said the best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores," Hewitt said. "He's basically a sophomore right now and he's turned into a big-time player because he's worked very, very hard."
Favors and the Yellow Jackets made Duke work hard Sunday, but not quite hard enough.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
