GREENSBORO, N.C. — There have been times this season after a defeat or some other near late-game debacle when Iman Shumpert has locked himself in Georgia Tech's tape room and flipped on video of a relic of his not-so-distant past.
Serving as perhaps a morbid but motivational reminder, the images of Florida State's Derwin Kitchen nailing a layup and subsequent free throw — as well as those of a rim-rattling, last-second Shumpert miss — have served as a powerful example for the sophomore guard.
"It was a disappointing loss," Shumpert said.
After rallying inside the Georgia Dome to take a late second-half lead with mere moments remaining in their second-round ACC tournament game with the Seminoles, the Yellow Jackets saw one of their worst seasons come to a dramatic end in a 64-62 thriller.
Coming within a kind bounce of watching their sordid 12-win season take an unexpectedly positive turn, several Yellow Jackets fell to the floor in immediate despair.
But those feelings couldn't last for too long.
"He can't hang his head too low," then-senior Georgia Tech guard Lewis Clinch said of Shumpert. "He's got to get prepared for his future."
His future is now.
With the memories of last year's finale still fresh in mind, Shumpert leads Georgia Tech into the Greensboro Coliseum tonight for a chance at redemption when it meets North Carolina in the first round of ACC tournament play.
Defending national champions, the Tar Heels (16-15, 5-11) appear to be a vastly different group this season, as graduation and the NBA draft pilfered some of their best talent. Now a freshman-laden team, North Carolina is hoping to salvage something positive this week in its own backyard.
"They're a good team; they're young a lot like us," Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt said following Wednesday afternoon's shoot-around inside the host arena. "If you look at the turnover numbers, they're at the bottom of the charts just like us. It's a characteristic of two young teams."
The Yellow Jacket and Tar Heels rank ninth and 10th in the conference, respectively, in assist-to-turnover ratio.
Tonight's meeting will be the third this season for the teams. Georgia Tech won the previous contests, and is hoping to do something it has not done since Hewitt's first with the Yellow Jackets: beat a team three times in one season.
During the 2000-01 season, the Yellow Jackets beat Virginia three times, including an opening-round win in the ACC tournament. In the 1984-85 season, the Yellow Jackets also beat North Carolina three times en route to winning their first ACC championship in the conference tournament.
"I never really thought about (doing that) until we had to play Clemson last year three times," Shumpert said. "(Assistant) Coach (Pete) Zaharis told me, 'It's hard to beat a team three times.' And that's sort of what gave us confidence going into playing Clemson."
Before losing to Florida State last year, Georgia Tech beat Clemson in the opening round of the conference tournament to snap a two-game skid against the Tigers that year.
"Now that we're on the other end of it, you actually know how tough it is to beat a team three times," Shumpert said. "It's something that we're prepared for and we've got to come out and show it (tonight)."
Much of what the Yellow Jackets believe must show against North Carolina rests on the strength of their defense.
"With (North Carolina head coach) Roy Williams' teams, generally speaking, you've got to get back in transition because they're going to push the ball right down your throat. We've done enough the last couple of days (in practice) to emphasize it," Hewitt said of his defense.
Employers of a fast-paced offense that thrives on transition play, the Tar Heels are sparked by guards Will Graves and Marcus Ginyard. Both, in addition to others, like to run.
"The No. 1 thing is keeping their point guards under control and not letting them go coast-to-coast," Georgia Tech forward Zachery Peacock said. "They have two very good point guards who like to do that — go coast-to-coast — and score within seven seconds of the shot clock. We did a very good job of stopping that both (previous) games and keeping them off the boards."
NOTES: Georgia Tech guard D'Andre Bell on Wednesday was named the recipient of the ACC's Bob Bradley Spirit and Courage Award. Named for a former Clemson sports information director who died in 2000 after a three-year bout with cancer, the award is given by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association to the "male or female basketball player, coach or team administrator who has overcome significant injury, illness or adversity in life to become a valuable contributor to his or her program and institution." Bell missed all of last season with a rare condition known as spinal stenosis. He returned this fall to play his final season. He averaged 6.4 points this season.