Bynum lifts Georgia Tech

The Yellow Jackets advanced to the national championship game for the first time.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
SAN ANTONIO -- With the score tied, 26.3 seconds remaining and players huddled around him during a time-out, coach Paul Hewitt asked his Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets what should happen next.
Guard Marvin Lewis spoke up.
"Marvin said give it to Will Bynum and let him live with his decision," said Hewitt.
With that, the Yellow Jackets broke their huddle by shouting "Family!"
Then Bynum, receiving a screen from center Luke Schenscher, drove to the basket and scored with 1.5 seconds remaining, giving Georgia Tech a 67-65 victory against Oklahoma State, and a spot in Monday's national championship game against Connecticut at the Alamodome.
Cowboys rallied
The Cowboys (31-4) had rallied to tie the game 65-65 after John Lucas hit a three-pointer with 26.3 seconds remaining. After the time-out, Bynum drove past Lucas, drawing Ivan McFarlin to him.
Bynum left his feet, then hung in the air briefly to allow McFarlin to go by. McFarlin got a piece of the ball, but Bynum was strong enough to lay the ball in with 1.5 seconds remaining.
"We wanted to get the ball to Will in the last 10 seconds," said Lewis, whose five three-point baskets in the first half had helped push the Yellow Jackets to a double-digit lead. "If we did a good job on the pick-and-roll, Will would go to the basket. If they came with help on him, I was coming off the top of the key and would be open.
"But I knew he was going to take the shot."
Lucas was despondent after the game. He had made a similarly big three-pointer last week to beat Saint Joseph's in a regional final. But this time Georgia Tech had time to answer.
"Put the blame on me," said Lucas. "I was supposed to lock up and didn't. Making that shot doesn't matter because I didn't do my job at the other end."
First time in final
Thanks to Bynum's basket, Georgia Tech (28-9), a preseason pick to finish seventh in the ACC, is in the national championship game for the first time. Bynum, a transfer from Arizona who nearly went to Oklahoma State instead of Georgia Tech, had also made key baskets in earlier NCAA tournament victories against Nevada and Kansas.
But it was Lewis's three-pointers in the first half that put the Cowboys in a hole. He made 5-of-8, making Oklahoma State's vaunted defense look vulnerable.
"I thought we lost the game in the first 20 minutes," said Cowboys coach Eddie Sutton, whose team was led by Joey Graham's 17 points and 10 rebounds. "It seemed like we were playing catch-up the whole game."
Went to Schenscher
After Lewis's outburst, the Yellow Jackets went inside in the second half to 7-foot-1 center Schenscher. The Cowboys didn't have an answer for Schenscher, who finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds, either.
Tech could afford to gamble because at every turn, there was Schenscher. Often taunted as "Big Bird" by opposing fans, the 7-foot-1 Australian gave the Yellow Jackets an inside presence at both ends of the court.
After the game, Oklahoma State's Tony Allen approached his friend and near-teammate Bynum and said, "You got me this time."
Said Bynum: "It felt even better because this came against Oklahoma State."