When it mattered most, Derwin Kitchen wasn't going to be denied.
Three times during Florida State's white-knuckle thriller against Georgia Tech on Friday, the sophomore guard had a layup rejected by a Yellow Jacket defender.
But with just 9.9 seconds left in the ACC Tournament quarterfinal game, Kitchen took an inbounds pass from freshman Luke Loucks, sped toward the goal and hit a game-winning reverse layup while being fouled in the Seminoles' 64-62 win at the Georgia Dome.
It was just his third basket of the game.
"I was struggling the whole night," said Kitchen, who finished with eight points, five assists and four turnovers. "To make a big play like that for my teammates, for Luke to have confidence to pass it to me (and) just to bounce back from a terrible game — that was big."
The whole world — or at least the 26,352 in attendance Friday — expected FSU star Toney Douglas to take the game-winning shot. After all, he had 25 points in the game (on 11 of 15 shooting) and has taken, and made, virtually all of the Seminoles' big shots in conference contests this season.
Instead, the pass went to Kitchen, who attacked the basket despite his earlier struggles.
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