Georgia moves on in NIT with win over Ohio State in back and forth battle

Georgia Basketball went on the road and won once again in the NIT, beating Ohio State 79-77 in Columbus to go to the semifinals of the tournament. The Bulldogs got 21 points out of Noah Thomasson, 17 out of Blue Cain and four 3-pointers from each, holding on with the Buckeyes getting a couple of game-winning attempts up in the final few seconds of the contest Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs and Buckeyes traded blows early on, but it was Georgia going into the locker room with the lead as Mike White’s squad continued its impressing first half offensive outings. For the third straight game, UGA made at least 50% of its shots from the field in the first 20:00, going 16-for-32 on Tuesday.

Frank Anselem-Ibe added 10 points, as well as 10 rebounds, as Georgia only got five minutes out of Russel Tchewa (illness). It’s the first career double-double for the Bulldog big man in his fourth season of collegiate basketball, spending two in Athens after two at Syracuse.

On the flip side, Ohio State got 22 points out of Jamison Battle, one of four Buckeyes in double-figures. Bruce Thornton had a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists while Felix Okpara and Rodd Gayle Jr. added 12 and 11 respectively.

How It Happened…

Blue Cain, Noah Thomasson and RJ Melendez each knocked down a 3-pointer as both Thomasson and Melendez made a trio of attempts from the field. Melendez made 3-of-4 including his only attempt from deep, a make that traded the lead from Ohio State to Georgia.

After the Buckeyes jumped out in front by two, the Bulldogs either held the advantage or were tied for the next 10:00 after the 16:48 mark. An 8-0 run and a dunk by Ohio State’s Felix Okpara sparked a series of lead changes, seeing six in the final few minutes of the first half. The final of those happened with three seconds to go before the break as Silas Demary got the offensive rebound on his missed floater and converted a second time around to send Georgia into the locker room ahead.

Early in the second half, a game of runs broke out. After Georgia scored 15 of 19 to jump out to a 12-point lead, Ohio State responded with eight straight. Mike White called a timeout trying to end that, and it worked. His Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run featuring key plays from Jalen DeLoach and Justin Hill and quickly led by double digits once again.

Ohio State fought back once again though, and a stretch of over 4:00 without any points from Georgia allowed the Buckeyes to regain the lead with 5:51 to go. After 17 straight points from the opponent, Cain and Thomasson stepped up to make 3-pointers on back to back possessions to tie things with 3:51 remaining and end the Ohio State run.

What ensued was a chaotic few minutes of basketball. Traded baskets, go-ahead makes and more resulted in a stoppage in play with under 2:00 to go and Ohio State leading by one. Then, with under a minute to go, Thomasson made a jumper to give Georgia the 77-76 lead. Cain made both of his free throw attempts before a foul up by three. While the Buckeyes missed one of two, the Bulldogs turned it over and gave Ohio State one final chance with 10.1 seconds left.

Georgia legacy Bruce Thornton, who’s father played football for the Bulldogs, missed a go-ahead attempt from 3-point range, but the ball went out on the rebound attempt on Georgia. Ohio State would get one more shot at it with 1.3 seconds to go, coming up empty.

What’s Next…

With the win, Georgia has 20 in total on the season for the first time in eight years. The Bulldogs advance to the semifinals where they’ll play in Indianapolis at Hinkle Fieldhouse against the winner of Seton Hall-UNLV. The Pirates and Runnin’ Rebels match up on Wednesday for the right to play UGA next week.

Tip time for the Tuesday night semifinals is to be determined, airing on either ESPN (7:00 p.m. ET) or ESPN2 (9:30 p.m. ET). Georgia last advanced to the semifinals in 1998, falling before winning a now-nonexistent third-place consolation game. The Bulldogs also fell in the semifinals in 1982, never having appeared in the NIT Championship Game.