ATLANTA - All game long, Georgia Tech backcourt mates Shaun Fein and Tony Akins had played like pitcher and catcher or even father and son, one tossing it effortlessly to the other for open three-pointers to keep the Yellow Jackets' upset bid alive.
When their team most needed a three-pointer, however, Akins' wild pitch killed all hopes of victory Saturday in the semifinals of the ACC tournament between fifth-seeded Georgia Tech (17-12) and top-seeded North Carolina (25-5).
After Joseph Forte sank two free throws to put North Carolina up 66-63 with 33 seconds left, Akins penetrated and saw an open Fein behind him. But as the Tech point guard began to dish the ball to the team's top shooter, Fein suddenly cut to the right and Akins' pass sailed harmlessly out of bounds for one of his game-high five turnovers. The Tar Heels subsequently scored on a slam dunk by Julius Peppers and a layup by Forte with one second remaining to secure a 70-63 triumph in front of a sellout crowd in Atlanta's Georgia Dome.
In the aftermath of the defeat, Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt tried to downplay the critical blunder by his two guards, who combined for 35 points and eight of the team's nine three-pointers to rally Tech from a 43-30 deficit.
"It was just miscommunication," Hewitt said. "That play happened 10 minutes into the game, and nobody remembered it. Those things happen."
While Fein and Akins shouldered the scoring load for the Yellow Jackets, Forte continued to rack up the points for the Tar Heels.
Forte picked up his third foul in the final minute of the first half and then got whistled a fourth time with 11:19 remaining in the game, but UNC coach Matt Doherty stuck with his go-to guy. Not only did Forte stay on the floor, the high-scoring sophomore rarely even let the ball out of his hands as he took seven of Carolina's final 10 field-goal attempts.
"Coach Doherty stressed to me to go out hard and don't worry about the fifth foul," said Forte, who Hewitt argued was deserving of player of the year after repeatedly carrying the Tar Heels to the finish line. "He said if you go out hard, you'll come out on top."
Forte finished with a game-high 27 points on 10-for-25 shooting, in addition to grabbing a team-leading 12 rebounds. Unfortunately for Doherty, though, Forte was not the only Tar Heel to find himself in early foul trouble. Center Brendan Haywood and top reserve Max Owens, who fouled out late in the game, each were hit with two fouls in the first half, but Doherty used the same strategy with them before halftime as he did with Forte.
"Early in the year, I wasn't keen on playing guys with two fouls in the first half, especially because we do have some depth," said Doherty, who added that he consulted former coach Dean Smith on the subject. "As the year went on, the last couple weeks I have felt more comfortable wit it, especially Brendan who is a senior. He knows what he can do and can't do in that situation."
Although Forte stole the show in the frantic finale, all eyes began the afternoon focused intently on the matchup of premier ACC big men Haywood and Alvin Jones. Following three minutes of scoreless basketball, the Yellow Jackets' dominating 6-foot-11 center made the contest's first statement.
Off a dump down from the perimeter, Jones maneuvered around Haywood for a rim-rattling two-handed slam. Jones' presence took over the game early, rejecting two shots in the first six minutes and directing an inside-outside game that freed up Akins for a trio of three-pointers in the first 12 minutes. Akins' third trey put his team up by five with 8:40 remaining in the half, and his give-and-go to Fein 25 seconds later built the Yellow Jackets' largest lead of the first half, 23-16.
But then Tech's offense went in the tank.
The Yellow Jackets attempted to feed their man in the middle, but after Fein's basket Haywood stopped Jones on three out of five possessions, while the other two trips down the court for Tech yielded nothing more than missed three-pointers and a turnover. With Haywood shutting down Jones the rest of the way and swatting attempts by Tech's smaller players to get to the basket, the Yellow Jackets failed to convert a field goal in the final eight minutes of the half.
"He's a very good player, and he had some success on me in the beginning," Haywood said of Jones, who shot a dreadful 3-for-16 from the floor and only scored seven points. "We decided to play behind him and try to make him shoot over me. We were waiting for him to make a couple baskets, but that never happened."
Tech's cold shooting was clearly underscored by Jones' performance, but it was by no means limited to the team's big man. Only reserves Robert Brooks and Michael Isenhour, whose six combined points were a non-factor, shot better than 50 percent from the floor. The Yellow Jackets' woes on offense enabled the Tar Heels to take a four-point lead into halftime despite scoring difficulties of their own.
"We've had droughts throughout the year. That's been one of the things they took advantage of the last two times against us," Hewitt said. "Today they didn't take as much advantage of it, and that's why we were still in the game at halftime and had a chance to win it at the end."
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