Kansas' Frosh Stings G'Tech
What was supposed to be a battle of the big men turned out to be a coming out party for a freshman.
Georgia Tech's 7-foot forward Jason Collier and 7-1 Kansas center Eric Chenowith canceled each other out with 13 points and eight rebounds apiece. Meanwhile 6-9 Drew Gooden stole the show, coming off the bench to score 20 points and grab 11 rebounds.
Gooden's performance earned him the award for the tournament's outstanding player.
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Also sensational was the Kansas bench, scoring exactly half of the Jayhawks' total points.
"I've said all year I hoped our depth would be a factor, and tonight it was," Williams said.
"Our bench didn't give us what they gave us last night," said Yellow Jacket coach Bobby Cremins, whose subs scored just 12 points.
Williams substituted early and often, sometimes sending in five subs at a time.
Leading 43-33 at the half, Williams went to his bench just two minutes later. "I didn't like what they were doing out there," Williams said of the starting five. Soon the lead was 23.
Midway through the half, Georgia Tech made its only real run of the game with Tony Akins scoring 10 straight points. With the lead down to 71-59, Jayhawk Jeff Boschee hit a 3-pointer to stem the Yellow Jackets' momentum.
"We didn't quit and that was really positive for us," Cremins said.
Kansas (4-0) got 15 points from Kenny Gregory, including 11 in the second half.
Akins had 13 in the second half to finish with 17 for Georgia Tech (3-1).
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