Atlanta ? B.J. Elder and Rashad McCants could have been the only players on the court. Possession after possession, they found a way to score.

Finally, Elder completed the frantic four-minute stretch with consecutive three-pointers, and Georgia Tech had the game in hand.

He made five straight threes during that span in the second half and finished with 30 points, leading the 15th-ranked Yellow Jackets to an 88-77 victory Tuesday night over No. 14 North Carolina.

“When you’re feeling like that, you just want to get a good look at the basket and let it go,” Elder said.

McCants won the personal battle, finishing with 28 of his career-high 31 points in the second half for North Carolina. It was an amazing display by two of the top scorers in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“I hope you all enjoyed that game,” Yellow Jackets coach Paul Hewitt told reporters. “I found myself caught up in it.”

And his advice to Elder during that run?

“I knew well enough to stay out of his way,” Hewitt quipped.

Will Bynum added 17 points, and Marvin Lewis had 14 for the Yellow Jackets (18-5, 5-4), who snapped a two-game losing streak in the conference.

Georgia Tech's B.J. Elder, front, drives against North Carolina's Melvin Scott in Tech's 88-77 win. The Yellow Jackets snapped a two-game league losing streak Tuesday in Atlanta.

Melvin Scott had 10 points for the Tar Heels (14-7, 4-6).

“I think I elevated my offense when I had to,” McCants said. “My team was looking to me, and I had to provide that.”

Sean May and Raymond Felton, who combined for 53 points in a 103-88 victory over Georgia Tech earlier this season, had a tough time in the rematch. May was 2-for-10 for nine points, and Felton, harried by Jarrett Jack and Bynum throughout, had eight.

“Coach came up with a great scheme to shadow him all the time,” Jack said of stopping Felton. “We just tried to control him when he got out in the open floor.”

No. 8 Kentucky 66, Alabama 55

Lexington, Ky. — Antwain Barbour, making his second start of the season, scored a career-high 23 points, and Kentucky beat Alabama. Barbour, who started in place of the injured Gerald Fitch, the Wildcats’ leading scorer, went 10-of-13 from the field and had five rebounds for Kentucky (17-3, 7-2 Southeastern Conference), which handed Alabama (11-9, 3-6) its fifth straight loss. Earnest Shelton scored 13 points to lead Alabama, which had won two of its previous three meetings against Kentucky, including one in Lexington.

No. 21 N.C. State 75, Florida State 59

Raleigh, N.C. — Engin Atsur had a season-high 20 points for the Wolfpack, who were 14-for-30 from three-point range. N.C. State (15-5) is off to an 8-2 start in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the first time in 15 seasons, matching its third-best start in the league since 1970.