Duke's Shane Battier and Georgia Tech's Michael Maddox scramble for a loose ball during Wednesday's game in Atlanta. ALAN MOTHNER/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jackets crushed by Duke

Web posted February 26, 1998

By Tony Fabrizio
Morris News Service

ATLANTA -- Two hours after having his No. 15 jersey retired in a pre-game ceremony Wednesday night, Georgia Tech forward Matt Harpring may have wanted to hang himself from the Alexander Coliseum rafters.

Harpring had the most frustrating game of his senior season, and the Yellow Jackets were never competitive in a 76-53 loss to No. 1 Duke.

``It's not the way I wanted to go out,'' Harpring said of his final regular-season home game. ``But you can't get everything you want in life. What can I say? We tried our best and the shots didn't fall for us. I'm proud I stayed four years and that I got that honor tonight.''

Although Harpring missed some open looks while scoring a season-low 12 points on 5-of-20 shooting, he wasn't nearly as bad as Duke was good. The Blue Devils were relentless, forcing 12 first-half turnovers and holding Tech to 33 percent shooting -- including 1-for-15 on three-pointers -- for the game.

Duke opened a 6-0 lead and never trailed. The lead was double figures after the 11:00 mark of the half, 19 at halftime and as much as 29 late in the game.

Harpring, who ranked second in the ACC in scoring and rebounding, did manage 11 rebounds.

``It was a tough day for him,'' Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ``It's a great day to have your jersey retired, but it also is an emotional day. It is a day that he definitely deserves.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski FILE

``We rotated three or four different people on him, and it's tough battling fresh people, one after the other on you.''

Tech fell to 17-11 overall and 6-9 in the ACC and will be in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament for a fourth time in five years unless it beats Clemson on the road Sunday.

Duke (26-2, 14-1) clinched at least a share of a fifth ACC title in the '90s heading into Saturday's showdown at home against No. 3 North Carolina.

Roshown McLeod led the Blue Devils with 20, followed by Trajan Langdon with 13, Augusta's William Avery with 11 and Chris Carawell with 10. Tech had 19 points from freshman Dion Glover, and 10 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots from freshman Alvin Jones.

``Our offense really looked out of sync,'' Tech coach Bobby Cremins said. ``But they do that to people. They hurt you. They beat Maryland at Maryland by 40. They beat teams by 50. They can embarrass you. You saw what they did to (No. 12) UCLA (120-84 last Sunday).''

Harpring became only the sixth Tech basketball player to have his jersey retired. He joins Roger Kaiser (No. 21, 1961), Rich Yunkus (40, 1971), Mark Price (25, 1986), John Salley 22, 1986) and Tom Hammonds (20, 1989).

A four-year starter from nearby Dunwoody, Harpring is third on Tech's career scoring list with 2,127 points and has an outside chance to break Yunkus' career record of 2,232 points. Harpring also ranks fourth in rebounds (968), as well as first in free throws (488), third in three-point field goals (199), fifth in steals (173) and sixth in minutes played (4,2587).

Harpring also is an Academic All-American with a 3.25 grade-point average. He will earn his degree in June, and upon his graduation -- a requirement before his jersey is officially retired -- a banner with his number will be raised at the coliseum.

The decision to retire Harpring's jersey was made by a committee that included Cremins, athletic director Dave Braine, Kaiser, Price and Hammonds.

In all sports, Tech has retired only eight jerseys. The other two belonged to baseball players Jim Luck (No. 44) and Jason Varitek (33).