St. Louis ? No one can say Jarrett Jack doesn’t know Jack. Jarrett Jack definitely knows basketball.

Georgia Tech’s sophomore point guard almost single-handedly lifted the Yellow Jackets into the NCAA Final Four with his multi-faceted performance in Sunday’s 79-71 overtime win over Kansas University.

“Today was obviously,” Tech coach Paul Hewitt said, “Jarrett Jack’s day.”

All Jack did was score a career-high 29 points to go with nine rebounds, six assists and four steals. He also was guilty of four turnovers during 38 minutes on the floor, but that was a minor glitch.

Georgia Tech has had some noteworthy point guards over the years — standouts like Mark Price, Stephon Marbury, Kenny Anderson and Travis Best.

“People have asked me all year to compare him to the other great point guards,” Hewitt said. “I said we couldn’t compare him until he takes a team to the Final Four. Now I think we can compare him to those guys.”

Jack made eight of 12 shots — mostly by driving the lane — and 13 of 14 free-throw attempts. The charity accuracy wasn’t a fluke. He’s shooting around 80 percent at the foul line for the season.

For his part, Jack felt he had to take over because B.J. Elder, the Jackets’ leading scorer, was a non-factor after suffering an ankle injury in Friday’s victory over Nevada. Elder started, but played only 12 minutes and didn’t score.

“B.J. being out,” Jack said, “we had to step it up a notch. I just kept attacking until the game was over.”

Kansas' Christian Moody, center, and Aaron Miles, right, converge on Georgia Tech's Jarrett Jack. Despite the extra attention, Jack -- the St. Louis Regional MVP -- finished with a game-high 29 points against the Jayhawks in Sunday's regional final at the Edward Jones Dome.

Georgia Tech will go into Saturday’s semifinal against Oklahoma State on the strength of winning four games by an average of fewer than five points. Sunday’s eight-point margin was the largest of the four, but the only one that went to an extra period.

“Coach did a great job of putting us in the situation in practice where we can win these close games,” Jack said of Hewitt. “I just really believe in this guy.”

Still, all Hewitt could do was conduct the practices. Jack had to execute.

“He had 29 points?” junior guard Will Bynum said. “That’s big. I had no idea he had 29 points. I never saw him play like that.”

Bynum drained the three-point goal that snapped the 71-all tie with 1:50 remaining in overtime.

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The 7-foot-1 Luke Schenscher added 15 points for the Jackets and helped hold Wayne Simien and Jeff Graves, KU’s two inside players, to a combined 15 points.

“We just never put our heads down at all,” Schenscher said. “They put big runs on us, and the crowd got behind them, and we just never put our heads down.”

Echoed reserve Clarence Moore, who also was a double-figure scorer with 14: “Everybody’s been doubting us, but look where we are now.”

Georgia Tech will go to San Antonio with nine defeats, but the region’s third seed suffered eight of those losses to its Atlantic Coast Conference brethren. The Jackets are 17-1 against non-ACC foes — the lone loss being a double-overtimer at Georgia.

“Everybody had a hand in it today,” Hewitt said. “In the end, though, we had Jarrett Jack. Big plays. It was fortunate for us, unfortunate for them.”