Elite Eight Recap – St. Louis Region
by Zach Ewing
((3) Georgia Tech 78, (4) Kansas 71, OT
In only the second overtime game of the entire tournament, Georgia Tech did what it’s been doing all tournament long: surviving. The Yellow Jackets’ leading scorer, B.J. Elder, was rendered almost completely useless with an ankle injury, but guard Jarrett Jack and center Luke Schenscher stepped it up and led Tech by the cold-shooting Jayhawks. GT led for nearly all of the game despite Elder, who sprained his ankle in Friday’s win over Nevada, playing only 12 minutes and scoring no points. But with the Jackets up 66-63 in the closing seconds, Kansas freshman J.R. Giddens drained a three from the top of the point to tie the game. Tech couldn’t score on the other end and the game went to overtime tied at 66.
Kansas tied the game back up at 71 with just more than two minutes to play in the extra period, but then guard Will Bynum hit a three-pointer for Georgia Tech. Kansas wouldn’t score again, and Tech won 78-71.
Jack had eight points in overtime and finished with 29, and Bynum had 8 points off the bench, but the real key to Tech’s surprising perimeter success was the play of Schenscher. The Australian seven-footer had 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting, but his stats don’t tell the whole story. He was able to keep Wayne Simien in check on the defensive end and forced KU to stay honest when GT had the ball. With the Jayhawks worrying about Schenscher, Jack and Co. lit it up from the outside and with dribble drives. Giddens and Keith Langford each had 15 for Kansas, but Simien was held to 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting after lighting up UAB for 30 points Friday.
The Jayhawks started 2of-18 from the field in Sunday’s game, allowing Tech to jump out to a 13-6 lead. KU rebounded with a 7-0 run to tie the game, but in a recurring theme, Tech pulled away again. The Yellow Jackets couldn’t shake the Jayhawks, but Kansas didn’t take the lead until there was 13:04 left to play in the game. Jack and the Jackets took control in the game’s final two minutes, but when Jack missed a free throw, it gave Giddens the chance to tie the game. The last laugh, though, belonged to Georgia Tech, which moves on to play Oklahoma State in the first national semifinal Saturday in San Antonio.
