Washington ? Rashad McCants followed his North Carolina teammates through the tunnel toward the locker room, wearing a stunned look while biting the front of his white jersey.

The second-ranked Tar Heels had just lost, 78-75, to Georgia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals Saturday after McCants missed a three-pointer that would have forced overtime.

The North Carolina guard let out a groan and let the jersey fall from his teeth.

“You know,” he said with a sigh, “that was supposed to go in.”

The top-seeded Tar Heels were supposed to win their first ACC title since 1998, but that didn’t happen, either.

Will Bynum scored a career-high 35 points, and the fifth-seeded Yellow Jackets advanced to the ACC championship game with a stunning upset of the league’s regular-season champions.

Did somebody say upset?

“This was no upset out here today. I want to make that point clear,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. “These are two great teams, and our team, being a team that I think has accomplished a lot at big moments … to be written off was kind of amusing to me.”

After Bynum capped his magnificent performance by making two foul shots with nine seconds left, McCants’ three-point try bounced off the front of the rim and into the waiting arms of Tech’s Jarrett Jack, who clutched the ball until time expired.

Georgia Tech's Jarrett Jack, center, waits to shoot between North Carolina's David Noel, left, and Rashad McCants. The Jackets won, 78-75, Saturday in Washington and will play Duke today for the ACC tournament title.

The Yellow Jackets celebrated, but with a good measure of restraint.

“It’s not a surprise, it’s not a shock to us,” Jack said. “We knew we could come in here and compete with any team in our conference, as well as any team in the country.”

Georgia Tech (19-10), which lost to North Carolina by 22 during the regular season, will play for the league title today against Duke.

North Carolina (27-4) will head home after finishing alone atop the regular-season standings for the first time since 1993.

No. 1 Illinois 64, Minnesota 56

Chicago — Playing less than 24 hours after Illinois coach Bruce Weber’s mother died, the top-ranked Illini used defense to hold off Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament semifinals. Luther Head ignited a first-half comeback and led the Illini (31-1) with 14 points, earning him a hug from coach Weber after the game. Weber’s mother, Dawn Weber, died Friday night after emergency heart surgery.

Vincent Grier led Minnesota (21-10) with 24 points.

No. 4 Kentucky 79, LSU 78, OT

Atlanta — Chuck Hayes spun into the lane to hit the winning shot with 7.9 seconds left in overtime, sending Kentucky (25-4) to the SEC championship game. Kelenna Azubuike led the Wildcats with 19 points. Antonio Hudson had 21 points for LSU (20-9).

No. 5 Duke 76, N.C. State 69

Washington — J.J. Redick carried Duke to its seventh consecutive ACC final, making seven three-pointers and scoring 35 points. Shelden Williams added 15 points, and Daniel Ewing had 14 for the Blue Devils (24-5). Andrew Brackman had 13 points for the Wolfpack (19-13).

No. 6 Louisville 75, Memphis 74

Memphis, Tenn. — Louisville (29-4) escaped when Memphis freshman Darius Washington missed two of three free throws with no time left on the clock.

No. 14 Washington 81, No. 8 Arizona 72

Los Angeles — Nate Robinson scored six points in the final 1:07, helping Washington earn its first Pac-10 tournament title. Washington (27-5) outscored the Wildcats 19-4 over the final 5:12 after trailing by six points. Salim Stoudamire led Arizona (27-6) with 37 points.

New Mexico 60, No. 15 Utah 56

Denver — New Mexico made its invitation to the NCAAs a formality, getting 28 points, 11 rebounds and four straight clutch free throws from Danny Granger in the Mountain West championship game. The second-seeded Lobos (26-6) jumped on Andrew Bogut and the top-seeded Utes (27-5) early.

No. 16 Syracuse 68, West Virginia 59

New York — Hakim Warrick had 20 points and 13 rebounds — his third double-double in three games — and Syracuse (27-6) won the Big East tournament for the first time since 1992.

Florida 68, No. 20 Alabama 62

Atlanta — David Lee scored 20 points, Matt Walsh hit six free throws in the final 17 seconds, and Florida (22-7) reached the SEC championship game for the second straight year. Kennedy Winston led Alabama (24-7) with 19 points.

No. 23 Wisconsin 59, Iowa 56

Chicago — Alando Tucker banked in the biggest shot of Wisconsin’s season, hitting a running three-pointer at the buzzer. Tucker finished with 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting, and Zach Morley added 17 for the Badgers (22-7). Greg Brunner led Iowa (21-11) with 18 points.