ATLANTA - Don't ask Tony Akins to feel sorry for North Carolina. <br>
<br>
Akins scored a season-high 28 points and Marvin Lewis added 14 as Georgia Tech beat the Tar Heels 86-74 Saturday, their eighth loss in nine games. <br>
<br>
``Man, I don't care how bad they are, they're still Carolina,'' Akins said. ``This is the second time I've beaten them, so when I'm old, I can tell my grandkids about that.'' <br>
<br>
B.J. Elder had 12 points for the Yellow Jackets (9-13, 2-7 Atlantic Coast Conference), who moved into a tie with North Carolina at the bottom of the ACC. Georgia Tech had lost eight straight in the series and now trails 53-15. <br>
<br>
``It just feels good to beat them,'' Lewis said. ``At least now I can say I beat North Carolina.'' <br>
<br>
The Tar Heels (6-13, 2-7 ACC) didn't return to the court during halftime until just 30 seconds were left in the break and seemed sluggish at the start of the second half. Akins hit his first four 3-pointers, and Georgia Tech seized control with a 16-5 run. <br>
<br>
``I told the guys that Coach (Matt) Doherty had been giving them an earful,'' Akins said. ``I said they were scared of us. We just needed to play hard and take care of business.'' <br>
<br>
Jason Capel scored 21 points and Brian Morrison had 16 for North Carolina, which fell seven games under .500 for the first time in school history. <br>
<br>
``There's no excuses,'' Capel said when asked if the short warmup hurt. ``They just executed better than us in the second half. That was the story.'' <br>
<br>
The Yellow Jackets haven't shot better than 49 percent yet this season, but hit 59 percent in the second half to pull away. <br>
<br>
Georgia Tech's game-deciding run came with the score tied at 37. Lewis hit a layup, Akins added two 3's and Ed Nelson scored to give the Yellow Jackets 10 straight points. The Tar Heels called a time-out, and Capel ended the streak with a 3-pointer. <br>
<br>
But Halston Lane responded from beyond the arc, boosting the lead to 50-40. North Carolina managed to get within five just once after that. <br>
<br>
``In the second half in particular, we did a great job of moving the ball,'' said Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt. ``That allowed us to get back on defense and to set up our press.'' <br>
<br>
North Carolina was playing less than 48 hours after a 29-point loss to Duke on Thursday night. <br>
<br>
``I don't think that this is a fair game to measure our improvement by,'' Doherty said. ``I'm not making excuses for our team today, but at the same time, I looked at this game on the schedule early this year and knew that it was going to be a tough one to play.'' <br>
<br>
Befitting a game between the worst two teams in the ACC, both suffered first-half scoring droughts. The Tar Heels went more than six minutes without a field goal and were outscored 15-2. The Yellow Jackets scored just eight points in the final 5:03 of the half, though, and trailed 35-34.
