Hewitt hopes he's wrong about Heels

GREENSBORO - Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt doesn’t want to be right again.

Duke’s Kyle Singler shot 2-for-13 from the field against Georgia Tech in the teams’ first meeting. Hewitt said afterward that if Singler got as many open shots the next time the teams played, the Yellow Jackets would be in trouble.

Sure enough, Singler shot 8-for-10 and scored a career-high 30 points against Georgia Tech in the second meeting.

On Wednesday, Hewitt was reminded of that exchange as he spoke of the seventh-seeded Yellow Jackets’ ACC tournament opener against No. 10 seed North Carolina. Georgia Tech has defeated the Tar Heels twice, but Hewitt has said he wouldn’t want to face North Carolina in March.

“I hope I’m not right again,” Hewitt said. “They’re a lot like us. They’re a young basketball team. You take a look at the turnovers, and we’re near the bottom. That’s what it’s going to come down to. Whoever doesn’t turn the ball over is going to have a great chance to win.”

Hewitt and Georgia Tech (19-11, 7-9 ACC) probably have more at stake than any other team in this ACC tournament. Every Yellow Jacket win will add more credibility to a somewhat shaky resume for the NCAA tournament.

But with the team’s accomplishments through Wednesday, ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi projected Georgia Tech as making the NCAA field with an at-large bid.

“It’s somewhat comforting, but it also may not be true,” Hewitt said. “They do get it wrong. Somebody said Lunardi gets 96 percent or 97 percent right? There’s that three percent I’d like to erase.”

Ken Tysiac