Georgia grinds out road victory over Wake Forest, moves on in NIT
Georgia Basketball was without a trio of contributors on Sunday in its second round game against Wake Forest, but the Bulldogs were able to advance with a 72-66 road victory over the Demon Deacons.
It’s UGA’s second victory over Wake Forest this season after a regular season matchup in Athens back in November, just the second time in the Mike White era the Dawgs have come out on top twice in a single season against the same opponent. It’s also the program’s first road in the NIT since 1998, the last time Georgia advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT.
Justin Hill led Georgia in scoring with 21 points off the bench in the win. He was one of three Bulldogs that reached double-figures alongside Noah Thomasson (19), who hit five 3-pointers, and Dylan James, who had a career-high 14. Without Russel Tchewa (illness), Frank Anselem led UGA in rebounding with eight while fellow big man Jalen DeLoach had four assists.
On the Wake Forest side of things, Andrew Carr had a career-high 31 points on 11-of-19 shooting. He also had 11 rebounds. Kevin Miller (14) and Cameron Hildreth (12) poured in double-figures as well while Efton Reid had nine rebounds, also more than any of the UGA big men.
How It Happened…
Georgia came out of the gate on fire, shooting above 50% from the field and 3-point range in the first half. A Dylan James 3-pointer gave Georgia the lead at 12-9, and the Dawgs didn’t trail again in the first 20:00.
James’ make, his second and Georgia’s fourth, opened the floodgates for the Bulldogs. He would score eight straight points before Justin Hill did the same with a layup, a 3-pointer and an and-one. Then, it was Noah Thomasson who got hot and made 3-pointers on back to back possessions to extend Georgia’s lead to 14. Another make from Thomasson and two more from Hill in the final minute would send the Bulldogs into the locker room up 39-24.
Wake Forest didn’t go down quietly. While Georgia led by as many as 19, the Demon Deacons had their deficit down to just seven with 9:09 to go. Andrew Carr scored 12 points to fuel the furious comeback including a 3-pointer. While other Wake players struggled to score, Carr’s contributions combined with a long stretch that saw just one Georgia field goal made it close.
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Georgia’s lead got down five, but free throws from Hill, a jumper from him and a 3-pointer from James extended it back out to 10. That brought on a Wake Forest timeout with 3:26 to go
While Wake came out of the timeout and scored, Georgia responded with a four-point play from Thomasson to put the Bulldogs up 12. It wasn’t quite a dagger as the Demon Deacons got to within a couple of possessions with under a minute to go, making free throws on back to back trips down the floor to make it a four-point game with 47.4 seconds left. Hill and Thomasson made the necessary free throws down the stretch though to hold on in the win.
What’s Next…
With the win, Georgia (19-16, 6-12 SEC) moves on to the quarterfinals to play second-seeded Ohio State (22-13, 9-11 Big Ten) Tuesday night in Columbus. UGA last advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT in 1998 when the Bulldogs made a trip to Madison Square Garden for the semifinals and third place game.
It’ll be just the second ever meeting between the two programs with the only previous one coming in 1977 and resulting in a UGA win. Ohio State defeated Virginia Tech 81-73 on Saturday to advance, led by a double-double from Jamison Battle (21 points, 10 rebounds). On the season, Battle is averaging 15.1 points per game, good for second on the team behind Bruce Thornton (15.8) and ahead of Roddy Gayle (13.6).
Tip time between the Bulldogs and Buckeyes is set for 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. The winner of Georgia-Ohio State will play the winner of Seton Hall-Boston College/UNLV at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on April 2nd in the semifinals.
