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Georgia Tech finally beats Duke at home

Jan 11, 2007 - 5:23 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Ra'Sean Dickey and Georgia Tech did something they very rarely do - beat Duke.

Dickey kept the Yellow Jackets from getting blown out early and Georgia Tech overcame 28 turnovers to post a 74-63 victory over No. 11 Duke in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup.

The Blue Devils are now 0-2 in the ACC for the first time since the 1995-96 season when they lost to Clemson and Georgia Tech to start conference play. They had won 20 of the last 21 matchups with the Yellow Jackets, including 10 straight here.

Duke (13-3, 0-2) led 10-2 in the opening minutes but had no answer for Dickey, who scored eight straight points to settle Georgia Tech down and tie the game.

"It's nice to get our first conference win," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. "Ra'Sean Dickey did a great job leading our team. He started out strong and established himself inside and then was there for us the whole night."

Dickey finished the first half with 14 points and his play in the paint opened things up for his teammates, who made 4-of-6 3-pointers en route to a 34-29 lead at the break.

The Blue Devils had not lost at Alexander Memorial Coliseum since February 9, 1996 and did not go quietly in this one. They trailed by as many as 11 midway through the second half but pulled within 55-53 on a layup by freshman Jon Scheyer with 5:28 to go.

In the past, Georgia Tech likely would have folded in the face of another Duke charge, but this time the Yellow Jackets could turn to players who had nothing to do with the Blue Devils' previous dominance in the series.

Freshman Javaris Crittenton got a dunk off a steal and fellow first-year player Thaddeus Young made a layup to extend the lead to 59-53. Crittenton added a 3-point-play and Dickey sank two free throws to make it 64-53 with 1:43 to play.

"Javaris lit the fire," Hewitt said. "He got that steal in the corner and went in for the dunk and that gave us a little bit of a lift."

"I just never gave up," Crittenton said. "I wanted my team to win and was going to do whatever it took for that to happen."

Dickey finished with 21 points while Crittenton and Young each added 11. Anthony Morrow outscored the Duke bench by himself with 19 points.

"It feels great, not just because it was against Duke, but anybody," Dickey said. "You always want to play like that."

Scheyer scored 16 points and Josh McRoberts and DeMarcus Nelson each had 12 for Duke.

Duke point guard Greg Paulus was replaced by freshman Gerald Henderson in the starting lineup and finished with six points, three assists and three turnovers in 29 minutes.

The Blue Devils had 10 steals, forced 28 turnovers that led to 24 points but still had trouble offensively. They shot 4-of-20 from the arc and just 43 percent overall (26-of-60).

"I thought we played hard, we wouldn't have forced 28 turnovers if we weren't playing hard," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Our team has struggled all year to score, and is still struggling to score."

Right now, Duke is struggling to win in the ACC too and things won't get any easier down the road. The Blue Devils visit Miami on Saturday and the Hurricanes will enter that game off of Wednesday's 63-58 victory at No. 25 Maryland.

"Young teams have to learn how to win," Krzyzewski said. "Just because they are at Duke doesn't mean that they've inherited winning. You inherit money. You don't inherit how to win, you learn that."