Late points at foul line lift Jackets

MILWAUKEE --- The Georgia Tech players earned themselves some extra credit the next time coach Paul Hewitt holds one of his little free throw games.

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Jeffrey Phelps/Associated Press

Georgia Tech's Gani Lawal shoots as Oklahoma State's Marshall Moses, an Aiken native, defends in the first half their first-round game Friday.

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Gani Lawal scored 14 points, Derrick Favors came within a rebound of a double-double and the free throw-challenged Yellow Jackets scored their last 13 points at the line Friday night to hold off seventh-seeded Oklahoma State 64-59 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Yellow Jackets (23-12) didn't make a field goal the last 8:19 of the game. But they finished 24 of 25 from the line -- pretty good numbers for a team that came in shooting less than 65 percent.

"We've had some tough nights this year, but we had a good night tonight," Lawal said. "When we're in the NCAA Tournament, it's huge. It's huge. We're practicing all the time. We want to keep playing."

The 10th-seeded Yellow Jackets were the eighth double-digit seed to win a game, and the third to do it Friday. They will now play Ohio State, which beat UC Santa Barbara 68-51, on Sunday, and they have to like their chances. With Friday's victory, Georgia Tech improved to 5-0 in NCAA Tournament games at the Bradley Center.

James Anderson and Oklahoma State (22-11), meanwhile, head home knowing the timing couldn't have been worse for one of their poorest games. Anderson, the nation's third-leading scorer, was only 3 of 12 for 11 points, only the fifth time this season he's failed to score at least 15 points.

And the 3-pointers that have carried the Cowboys all season disappeared. They were only 6 of 22 from long range, including 0 of 6 for Anderson.

"They were a much more physical team than I had seen on tape. Very physical, very aggressive," coach Travis Ford said. "They were able to take us out of some of our offensive things being aggressive."

That Georgia Tech put up a stingy defense is hardly a surprise. Neither was the play of Favors and Lawal. But free throws?

Hewitt has even come up with games to try and improve his teams Shaq-like shooting. The current one requires players to make three in a row before they get any credit.

"You'd have eight," Hewitt said, laughing, when asked how many his team gets for Friday's performance. "Our guys can make free throws, we just don't happen to make them sometimes in the game."