SOUTHEAST\Marbury lets it fly for Tech\Freshman has 29 points in rout of BC.

Byline: Associated Press 

A few more games like this might make it much harder for Stephon Marbury to turn down the NBA.

Marbury, the nation's most heralded freshman, could not be stopped Sunday, scoring a career-high 29 points and leading Georgia Tech past Boston College 103-89 in the second round of the Southeast Regional.

"Today, you saw Stephon Marbury," Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins said. "You saw why there was so much talk about him coming out of high school."

Too quick and too big for any of the Eagles guards who tried to slow him, Marbury controlled the tempo until leaving with 1:20 left. His performance, spiced with between-the-legs dribbles, no-look passes and poise in the face of full-court pressure, was the kind that have many thinking he's ready now for the NBA.

Marbury made 10 of 12 shots, including 6 of 7 3-pointers. He also had nine assists, four steals, no turnovers and constantly found the open man.

Is there room to get better?

"I can learn a lot," Marbury said. "My decision-making can improve and I can try to make my passes crisper."

He'll get that chance because Georgia Tech (24-11) used its highest-scoring game of the season to advance to the Sweet 16 for the third time in seven years.

The third-seeded Yellow Jackets will play second-seeded Cincinnati Friday night in Lexington, Ky. The teams met last season, and Cincinnati won 69-66.

Boston College (19-11), which had been 5-0 in second-round games in the NCAA tournament, never challenged after Georgia Tech reeled off a 20-5 run for 39-27 lead with four minutes left in the first half.

Marbury helped Georgia Tech take a 21-point lead in the second half and the edge never dipped into single digits.

"I thought probably I had seen it all with (Allen) Iverson in our league, but he's got to be just as good as any guard that we've played," Boston College coach Jim O'Brien said. "You can watch television, but you don't know how good somebody is until you actually play them."

Matt Harpring, who hit 4 of 6 3-pointers, added 20 points and Drew Barry had 15 for Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets shot 61 percent, including 16 of 28 3-pointers.

"It's very hard to beat us when we shoot like that," Marbury said "We moved the ball, found the open man and made the shots."

Credit Marbury.

"When Stephon's on fire like that, there's not much other teams can do," Harpring said.

Duane Woodward scored 21 for 11th-seeded Boston College. Danya Abrams, who had 22 points and 17 rebounds in an opening-round win over Indiana, finished with 16 points before fouling out with four minutes left. The Eagles hoped his inside power could counter Georgia Tech's outside shooting, but he drew his third foul late in the first half.

Marbury, who turned 19 last month, said before the tournament that he planned to stay at Tech. But recently, he'd said he might consider the pros if he were a top-five NBA draft pick.

After scoring 17 points in Tech's first-round win over Austin Peay, the 6-foot-2 Marbury came back and showed why he was the Atlantic Coast Conference's top rookie. He was too fast for 5-10 Scoonie Penn, the Big East's top freshman.

The only time he was stopped came when he tripped himself while celebrating a basket that put Georgia Tech ahead 72-51. He gave a big smile, then got up while the Yellow Jackets were preparing to shoot a free throw.

Cincinnati 78, Temple 65: Maybe Bob Huggins should write a book on how to solve John Chaney's pesky matchup zone. Cincinnati did it for the fifth time in four seasons and earned a trip to the Sweet 16.

Damon Flint made four 3-pointers and scored 22 points and Darnell Burton hit five 3-pointers, including three during a 19-2 run the second-seeded Bearcats used to open a 15-point second-half lead.

Temple (20-13) closed to 64-61 with 3:32 to go, then missed 12 of its final 13 shots to fall from the tournament with a loss to Cincinnati (27-4) for the second straight year.

"We played a team that didn't look too explosive against the zone two days ago (against UNC Greensboro). But then they came out shooting today," Chaney said after Cincinnati made 10 of 24 3-point attempts.

"Flint is a guy we were not prepared to stop. We didn't think he could hurt us. We don't aim our defense at stopping guys from shooting 25 feet out. If we get close (in the closing minutes), Flint's not going to take those shots. I'll bet my life on it."

Burton finished with 18 points and Danny Fortson, the Conference USA player of the year, scored 13 of his 18 after halftime to send the Bearcats into the regional semifinals at Lexington, Ky.

The Sweet 16 appearance will be Cincinnati's third in five years under Huggins, who took over a moribund program seven seasons ago and took the Bearcats to the Final Four in 1992.

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