After nearing blowing a 23-point lead, the final minute of Tuesday night’s first-round game in the NIT between Georgia and Xavier undoubtedly seemed like an eternity to head coach Mike White and his players on the Bulldog bench.

Only after his team survived a frantic few seconds, holding off the Musketeers 78-76, was the crowd of 2,756 in Stegeman Coliseum able to exhale.

“We work on those situations every single day; when something bad happens, a bad play, a bad run, just keep your head up,” RJ Melendez said. “It’s tough sometimes to keep your composure. But it goes back to the summer when you’re running a lot. Again, it’s something we practice every single day. We work for these moments. We finished on the winning side this time and just hope to build on it.”

With the win, Georgia (18-16) awaits the winner of Wednesday night’s game between Wake Forest and Appalachian State Wednesday night in Winston-Salem. The game will be played either Saturday or Sunday, according to the official NIT bracket.

If Wake Forest wins, the Demon Deacons will host the second-round contest. If Appalachian State is victorious, the game will be in Athens.

After a basket by Silas Demary, Jr. gave Georgia a four-point lead, Justin Hill missed the front end of a 1-and-1, with Lazar Djokovic grabbing the rebound before getting the ball to Dayvion McKnight who drove the lane for an easy two.

That’s when the game really became crazy.

Georgia would turn the ball over on the ensuing inbound, but Atlanta native Quincy Olivari’s shot was blocked by Russel Tchewa with 1.7 seconds left, only to have the officials whistle the Bulldog center for goal-tending.

“I thought it was (a block) live,” White said.

Fortunately for Georgia, the officials taking a look at the review agreed.

Following a lengthy review, the officials ruled that Tchewa indeed blocked the ball, with the Musketeers maintaining possession.

Xavier attempted to get the ball inside, but was unable to get off a shot before the final buzzer sounded.

“It was the same message I’ve given all year; I’m not creative enough to give a different one. Your championship-level teams, the best teams that I’ve been a part of, they don’t look at the scoreboard,” White said. “You stay in the moment. Let’s get an A shot, let’s get a stop. It’s not, ‘Man, I hope we hold on and win this one.’ If you’re thinking about those things, you’re not in the moment.”

The win, Georgia's first in the postseason since 2016, came after the Bulldogs nearly blew a 23-point lead with 13:42 to play.

After leading 46-34 at the half, Xavier cut the lead to eight, only to have the Bulldogs answer right back.

A 3-pointer by Noah Thomasson, followed by a conventional three-point play by Blue Cain, extended the lead back to 54-40 with just over 16 minutes left to play.

Georgia’s lead would grow to 23, but Xavier wasn’t quite done.

The Musketeers would roar back, cutting the Bulldogs’ advantage to eight on a 3-pointer by Demond Claude with 4:49 remaining.

Claude wasn’t done. His fifth 3-pointer brought the Musketeers within seven before cutting Georgia’s lead to 76-74.

Demary Jr. led the Bulldogs with 16 points, followed by Melendez with 14, Thomasson with 12, and Justin Hill with 10.

Claude scored 30 to lead the Musketeers, who outscored Georgia 42-32, only to finish two points short.

Georgia controlled the first half, including eight of the final 10 points for a 46-34 lead.

Melendez capped off the spurt by stealing an inbound pass with 4.2 seconds before going in for the slam, sending both teams into the locker room.

The 12-point lead was the biggest of the first half for Georgia, which only trailed once at 6-5 before taking control of the game.

Hill led the Bulldogs with 10 first-half points, including back-to-back 3-pointers that pushed Georgia ahead 25-17 at the 9:33 mark.

Xavier would twice close within four, but each time the Bulldogs answered, including with 2:40 left in the first half on a 3-pointer by Melendez.

“The first 30 minutes was as well as we played all year,” White said. “We’ve now got another opportunity Saturday or Sunday to put 40 together playing at that level.”

Boxscore

• Jabri Abdur-Rahim missed his fifth straight game with an ankle injury, although he was minus the boot and was walking around on the court before the game.

• Melendez has been rumored as a possibility to enter the transfer portal but said after the game that’s not currently on his mind.

“I’m not worried about that at all,” Melendez said of the portal, which opened Monday. “I was worried about today. Now, I’m going to see what Wake Forest and App State do. (The portal) is the last thing on my mind. I’m focused on what we’ve got right now."

• Georgia’s first-half scoring output of 46 points ties it for the most points scored in the opening frame this season. The team shot 50 percent from the field, including a trio of 3-pointers.

• Demary Jr. led the team in scoring for the eighth time this season with 16 points. This marks the third time in the last four games the freshman has reached double-digits in scoring.

• Tchewa recorded four assists in the game, marking the sixth time this season he recorded at least three dimes. In 103 career games at South Florida, Tchewa recorded 42 assists, while in just 34 games at Georgia, he is up to 45 assists.

• Tuesday marked the program’s first victory over a Big East opponent since winning at Marquette on December 2, 2017, and just the third time since then Georgia has played a team in the league.

• Georgia forced 15 turnovers from Xavier in the game, 10 of which were steals, and turned those extra possessions into 22 points. This marked the ninth time this season the Bulldogs racked up at least 15 turnovers, going 5-4 in those games.