Bombs were falling inside McNichols Sports Arena Saturday night. But this time, Georgia Tech was the target instead of the trigger.
The Yellow Jackets, on a high-scoring, quick-shooting run into the Final Four of the NCAA basketball tournament, got ripped at the finish of their national semifinal, falling to Nevada-Las Vegas 90-81.The loss closed Georgia Tech's season at 28-7, one game short of an all-ACC final against Duke. The Runnin' Rebels will instead advance to Monday's game, trying to dispatch another ACC team and give coach Jerry Tarkanian his first championship.
Nevada-Las Vegas used a combination of deadly denial defense on Georgia Tech's best shooters and a heavy-artillery offense inside and out to halt the Yellow Jackets' longest stay in NCAA post-season play.
"Vegas really got after us," said Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins. "They're a great defensive team."
Georgia Tech still got big numbers from its big three, Dennis Scott (29), Brian Oliver (24) and Kenny Anderson (16). But UNLV placed all five starters in double figures, led by Stacey Augmon with 22 and Anderson Hunt with 20.
The Yellow Jackets shot 50.8 percent, better than they have in several tournament victories and not far under UNLV's 52.3 percent. But the percentage belies the difficulty they faced in the second half.
After building a seven-point halftime lead, 53-46, on 66.7 percent marksmanship, Georgia Tech dropped off to 34.5 percent in the final 20 minutes.
That effected each of the three scoring leaders in the second half: Scott shot three for nine and scored nine; Anderson hit one of five and scored three; and Oliver, while scoring 14, was five for 12.
The coaches agreed the game turned at that stage, as the second half began with the Rebels turning up the defensive intensity.
"I knew UNLV would make a run, I knew the game was not over at halftime," Cremins said.
"I thought we would get a couple baskets and settle down. But we never got into our halfcourt offense."
Said Tarkanian: "Our plan going into the game was to have our big people beat their big people down the court. But they beat us, they outran us.
"We were fortunate to be down only six (actually seven) at half. The first half, we were like a boxer coming out and feeling his way around.
"The second half we went after them, and I thought that was the difference in the game."
The Rebels kicked it into high gear on both ends of the court. They got a jumper from Augmon 16 seconds into the half and, a few moments later, a three-pointer from Greg Anthony to start the flurry.
The Yellow Jackets were struggling on the other end. They found themselves swarmed by the Rebels, unable to get the ball in their favorite shooting positions and sometimes, in the case of Scott, Oliver and Anderson, unable to get it at all.
Georgia Tech scored two free throws in the opening five minutes 53 seconds of the period, while UNLV was ringing up 10 to take the lead. Oliver put the Yellow Jackets back on top momentarily, but the Rebels reclaimed the advantage and refused to give it up.
"They came out and changed defensively and kind of threw us in a funk," Oliver said.
Still, the Yellow Jackets hung around. And for a long while it appeared they might be ready for some more late-game heroics from Scott or Oliver or Anderson.
With 8:07 left, Scott got Georgia Tech within two, 71-69, with a three-pointer. The Rebels turned the ball over on their next possession and the script was suddenly looking very familiar for the Yellow Jackets.
But the next two times Georgia Tech had the ball, first Scott and then Oliver missed three-point attempts.
And on the other end, Anthony was hitting his shot from beyond the three-point arc and David Butler was slamming home a fast-break dunk.
In 65 seconds, the lead had gone from two to seven and UNLV was back in control. Over the next three minutes, Hunt twice connected on three-pointers and the margin soon mounted to nine with the end in sight.
The Yellow Jackets got a last shot at getting back in it, getting possession with 28 seconds left and a six-point deficit. But Scott's three-pointer bounced off the rim and, a few seconds later, Butler got a field goal and free throw to wrap it up.