Tar Heels fall to Georgia Tech

By Associated Press     Mar 2, 2007

North Carolina's Wayne Ellington, left, drives on Georgia Tech's Javaris Crittenton. Tech won, 84-77, Thursday night in Atlanta.

? Georgia Tech hardly resembled the team that North Carolina blew out six weeks ago in Chapel Hill.

Thaddeus Young scored a career-high 25 points and Javaris Crittenton handed out 11 assists to help Georgia Tech beat No. 8 North Carolina, 84-77, on Thursday night.

“We played much more physical,” said Young, a freshman forward. “We came out timid up there, and they got a big halftime lead on us.”

Losing consecutive road games in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the first time in three years, the Tar Heels (24-6, 10-5) missed a chance to hold onto a share of first place in the league following Virginia’s win over Virginia Tech.

“We were just so bad defensively in the first half, but I still go back and say that just because you’re open doesn’t mean you make shots, and they made shots,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. “At halftime, I felt we were extremely lucky to be down seven.”

Anthony Morrow added 18 points for Georgia Tech,

Brandan Wright had 22 points to lead North Carolina. Tyler Hansborough added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels.

Wayne Ellington finished with 14 points, but missed a three-pointer in the final minute that led to a pair of free throws by Mario West which put Georgia Tech ahead 80-73 with 55.5 seconds remaining.

No. 2 UCLA 53, No. 13 Washington State 45

Pullman, Wash. – Arron Afflalo scored 14 points to help UCLA beat Washington State in a showdown of the top two teams in the Pacific-10 Conference.

UCLA (26-3, 15-2) wrapped up a second consecutive Pac-10 title with the win. They had already clinched at least a tie with WSU and the top seed in the tournament. Kyle Weaver scored 14 points for Washington State (23-6, 12-5).

No. 6 Memphis 78, UTEP 67

El Paso, Texas – Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 21 points, and Jeremy Hunt added 19 to help Memphis beat Texas-El Paso, securing the Tigers’ 18th straight victory. The Tigers, who already had won the Conference USA regular season title, were lucky to escape the Don Haskins Center with a victory.

Utah State 79, No. 10 Nevada 77, OT

Logan, Utah – Chaz Spicer made two free throws with 3.8 seconds left in overtime to lift Utah State past Nevada, ending the Wolf Pack’s nine-game winning streak.

Virginia 69, No. 21 Virginia Tech 56

Charlottesville, Va. – Sean Singletary scored 17 points, and Virginia gained revenge against Virginia Tech. The Cavaliers (20-8, 11-4), picked to finish eighth in the preseason, finished 8-0 in league play at their new John Paul Jones Arena.

Washington 85, No. 23 Southern California 70

Seattle – Ryan Appleby scored 22 points, hitting five three-pointers, and Washington snapped a four-game losing streak.

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