Tech upsets 'Heels, meets Duke in final

Rashad McCants followed his North Carolina teammates through the tunnel toward the locker room, wearing a stunned look while biting the front of his white jersey.

The second-ranked Tar Heels had just lost 78-75 to Georgia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals Saturday in Washington after McCants missed a 3-pointer that would have forced overtime.

The junior guard let out a groan and let the jersey fall from his teeth.

"You know," he said with a sigh, "that was supposed to go in."

The top-seeded Tar Heels were supposed to win their first ACC title since 1998, but that didn't happen, either.

Will Bynum scored a career-high 35 points, and the fifth-seeded Yellow Jackets advanced to the ACC championship game today against Duke with a stunning upset of the league's regular-season champions.

Did somebody say upset?

"This was no upset out here today. I want to make that point clear," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. "These are two great teams, and our team, being a team that I think has accomplished a lot at big moments . . . to be written off was kind of amusing to me."

After Bynum capped his magnificent performance by making two foul shots with nine seconds left, McCants' 3-point try bounced off the front of the rim and into the waiting arms of Tech's Jarred Jack, who clutched the ball until time expired.

The Yellow Jackets celebrated, but with a good measure of restraint.

"It's not a surprise, it's not a shock to us," Jack said. "We knew we could come in here and compete with any team in our conference, as well as any team in the country."

Thanks to Bynum, whose 35 points is the most by a Georgia Tech player in the ACC tournament, surpassing the 33 by Mark Price against Virginia in 1983.

"It was big, but I would rather have scored two and won anyway," a teary-eyed Bynum said at the postgame news conference. "As long as we get the win, that's what counts."

NO. 5 DUKE 76, N.C. STATE 69: J.J. Redick carried Duke to its seventh consecutive ACC final, making seven 3-pointers and scoring 35 points. Shelden Williams added 15 points and Daniel Ewing had 14 for the Blue Devils (24-5). Andrew Brackman had 13 points for the Wolfpack (19-13).