ATLANTA -- Virginia Tech needed a little luck to win its first road game over a ranked opponent in 23 years.
It came in the final seconds.
Georgia Tech's Isma'il Muhammad missed two free throws with 5.5 seconds left and the No. 12 Yellow Jackets missed two putback attempts as Virginia Tech survived a frantic final seconds for a 70-69 upset Saturday.
"We got lucky at the end of the game," Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "Let's face it, any of those shots could have gone in."
Instead, the Yellow Jackets (11-5, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) lost their third straight while the Hokies (10-6, 3-2) celebrated a milestone win.
In addition to winning their first road conference game in their first season in the ACC, the Hokies took their first victory at a ranked team's home floor since Jan. 23, 1982, when they won at No. 17 Louisville. Also, Virginia Tech beat a team ranked as high as No. 12 for the first time since defeating No. 2 Memphis on Feb. 1, 1986.
"This is a great confidence-booster, playing the No. 12 team in the nation on their own court and beating them," said Virginia Tech's Carlos Dixon, who scored 21 points, including the decisive basket with 36 seconds left.
"This shows us we can compete in the ACC. It shows everybody in the nation we're no pushovers."
Following Muhammad's second missed free throw, Ra'Sean Dickey and Mario West each missed putbacks for Georgia Tech after offensive rebounds.
Zabian Dowdell added 18 points for the Hokies.
Will Bynum matched his career high with 28 points for Georgia Tech (11-5, 2-3), which lost for the first time at home this season. Jarrett Jack added 15 points and Muhammad had 14.
Georgia Tech senior guard B.J. Elder, the team's second-leading scorer, missed his fifth straight game with a hamstring injury. Elder practiced during the week but was not in uniform for the game.
"Let's face it, if Elder plays it's probably a different game," Greenberg said. "I can't imagine facing Elder, Jack and Bynum. Bynum was ridiculous."
Virginia Tech, which has won four straight, including three ACC games by a total of four points, was up by 11 midway through the second half.
Bynum sparked the comeback when he hit a 3-pointer with 8:36 left. Bynum added another 3 a few minutes later, and his steal set up a three-point play by Muhammad with 6:22 left, cutting Virginia Tech's lead to 61-59.
Finally, Bynum pulled the Yellow Jackets even at 61 with a jumper at the 5:50 mark, but Georgia Tech didn't pull ahead until Bynum sank two free throws with 53.8 seconds left for a 69-68 advantage.
Dixon answered with a basket to give the Hokies a 70-69 lead with 36 seconds left. After a miss by Dickey, a scramble for the loose ball led to a jump ball, with possession to the Yellow Jackets, with 10.8 seconds left.
Muhammad went to the line with a shot to at least tie it, but he couldn't convert.
"Certainly our team is capable of better offensive production, and in the second half, defensively we could have done a better job, but give them credit," said Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt. "They made some very difficult shots."
Georgia Tech, No. 3 in the Associated Press preseason poll, fell out of the top 10 with back-to-back road losses to North Carolina and N.C. State. The Yellow Jackets had a six-day break before returning to Alexander Memorial Coliseum, where they were 9-0 before Saturday.
A 10-0 run gave the Yellow Jackets a 22-13 lead midway through the first half. But Jack sat out about 6 minutes after picking up his second foul with seven minutes left in the half, and without their leading scorer the Yellow Jackets could not continue to pull away.
