ATLANTA — Virginia is stuck in the lower half of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings, but Mustapha Farrakhan says the Cavaliers haven't given up on a winning season.

It's a goal that is a fading dream for Georgia Tech.

Farrakhan scored 17 points, including five straight to give Virginia the lead in the final 5 minutes, and the Cavaliers beat Georgia Tech 62-56 on Wednesday night.

The Cavaliers (14-13, 5-8) moved over .500 with their second straight win.

"We definitely feel like we have something to play for," Farrakhan said, adding that a winning record "would be great for us."

Farrakhan hit two free throws to snap a tie and added a 3-pointer for a 51-46 lead with 4:05 remaining.

Farrakhan's points were part of a 12-0 run for Virginia after Georgia Tech led 46-43.

Maurice Miller answered with a basket and a three-point play for Georgia Tech, cutting the Cavaliers' lead to 55-51 with 1:39 remaining.

Georgia Tech (11-16, 3-10) couldn't complete the comeback as it suffered its seventh straight conference loss.

"Obviously, at 46-43, we couldn't make a shot and just went dry," said Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt. "They made some big shots."

A key for Virginia was coach Tony Bennett's move from his normal man defense to a zone late in the game. The Yellow Jackets had too little success shooting 3s in their late comeback attempt.

"That was just to throw them off balance," Farrakhan said. "They're a very high-octane team, and we wanted to slow them down."

Bennett made the switch during a time-out with 4:05 remaining, anticipating Hewitt would design an offensive play against a man defense.

"I thought we will just see," Bennett said. "They are going to draw up a man-to-man play, we haven't played any zone all year and so we did it. You know what, it was OK. ... I think it was effective for us because they certainly missed some shots."

Hewitt said his team "had some decent looks" against the zone. "But we'd prefer to go inside," he said.

"That's been the story the last six or seven games, just getting shots to go down."

Joe Harris, who had 11 points, hit a 3-pointer with 24 seconds remaining to help Virginia protect its lead. Jontel Evans and Assane Sene each had nine points.

With Virginia leading 60-56, Mfon Udofia was fouled on a 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds remaining. He missed all three free throws.

Virginia completed a sweep of the two-game season series and has won back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 2-4. The Cavaliers beat Virginia Tech on Saturday.

Georgia Tech had its biggest lead at 23-14 and led 28-26 at halftime.

Iman Shumpert led Georgia Tech with 12 points while making only 4 of 11 shots. Miller and Jason Morris each had 10.
Georgia Tech's only win in its last eight games was a 62-53 nonconference win over Chattanooga on Feb. 16.

Georgia Tech forward Brian Oliver missed his fifth straight game with a broken thumb. He is expected to return for the ACC tournament.

Glen Rice Jr., one of the Yellow Jackets' leading scorers, was held out of the starting lineup for disciplinary reasons. Morris made his first start.

Hewitt said he "would rather not elaborate" on Rice's situation.

Rice made his first appearance with 13:22 remaining in the first half but was ineffective. Rice, averaging 13.9 points, scored with 55 seconds remaining for his only two points in 13 minutes.

Virginia won despite Georgia Tech's 30-27 advantage in rebounds and 11-2 edge in second-chance points. The Yellow Jackets made only 6 of 13 free throws.

The reported attendance was 5,537.