Georgia Tech wasn't supposed to be this good 2003 ACC rookie of the year Chris Bosh left for the draft. Ed Nelson transferred to Connecticut. But even without their two best frontcourt players, and despite being a preseason pick to finish 7th in the ACC, the third-seeded Yellow Jackets (27-9) find themselves traveling to San Antonio for the Final Four Saturday.
Standing in Georgia Tech's way is East Rutherford No. 2 seed Oklahoma State (31-3). The Cowboys needed a game-winning three from guard John Lucas to defeat a talented Saint Joseph's team in the Elite Eight, and on paper they are the favorite. But this is nothing new for Georgia Tech.
"I'm very proud of our players," Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt said after beating Kansas in the Elite Eight. "Not necessarily because they came out and played hard, but when most of these guys chose to come to Georgia Tech, there was a lot of uncertainty. We've lost a lot of recruits because they say Georgia Tech is not going to be good. They had enough confidence in themselves. They can carry a team, put a team in the Final Four."
A big concern for Georgia Tech will be the health of leading scorer B.J. Elder, who sprained his ankle during the Yellow Jackets' Sweet 16 matchup with Nevada. Elder played only 12 minutes against Kansas, and his status for this weekend's matchup is still in doubt. Regardless of whether Elder plays significant minutes, the key matchup in the game will be at the point guard position. Georgia Tech's Jarrett Jack, who picked up the slack in the absence of Elder by scoring 29 points against Kansas, will go head-to-head with Lucas.
For the Cowboys, Lucas has made clutch shots all year. Against Saint Joseph's, Lucas only had two points in the first half. The tough-minded point guard turned everything around after halftime, scoring 17 points in the final 20 minutes, including the game-winning shot. Oklahoma State head coach Eddie Sutton only had good things to say about his point guard after the win.
"[Lucas] is a tough kid, and, like he said, he came back in the second half and hit some big shots for us," Sutton said. "The one he hit to win the game, certainly the biggest shot that [anyone] has scored for us in a long time, and I'm talking about OSU."
One driving motivation for the Cowboys in the Final Four is to end Sutton's national championship drought.
"When I saw on ESPN that coach Eddie Sutton was one of the coaches who competed in the NCAA the most but never won a championship, that really meant a lot to me," Lucas said. "I really want to win this NCAA for him."
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