Indianapolis Bound
After being eliminated by Florida in the second round of the SEC Tournament, Georgia thought its season was over.
But after Ole Miss thumbed its nose at the National Invitational Tournament, the Bulldogs received a reprieve, happily accepting the opportunity to keep their season alive. The Rebels’ loss has been Georgia’s gain.
After Tuesday night’s 79-77 win at Ohio State, the Bulldogs are headed to Indianapolis for the tournament’s Final Four.
Georgia (20-16) Will play the winner of Wednesday night’s quarterfinal game between Seton Hall and UNLV in the semifinals at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on April 2. The finals are on April 4.
“This is really big. We don’t take it lightly. We were picked near the bottom (of the SEC), we all know that, but we had higher expectations within our program,” head coach Mike White said. “I love the character that our guys are showing. We’re playing with gratitude; we’re playing with appreciation. With us, it’s ‘Hey, we’re thankful for the opportunity. We’re going to take full advantage.”
Graduate Noah Thomasson could not agree more.
Thomasson scored 21 points to lead Georgia, which survived a late 17-0 run by Ohio State to advance to the semifinals of the NIT for the third time in program history (1982 and 1998).
“We really like each other. In fact, we love each other,” Thomasson said. “The big thing is, guys like me, Russ (Russel Tchewa), and Sonny (Sunahara), we lose tonight, that’s it for us. So, the opportunity to keep playing is a big thing. We just keep coming into practice with good vibes, smiles, and laughter … working hard. We do that, you never know what’s going to happen.”
For the second time in as many games, the Bulldogs won a game despite being shorthanded.
Senior Jabri Abdur-Rahim missed his seventh straight game with an injured ankle. Tchewa, meanwhile, only played five minutes after missing Sunday’s quarterfinal game at Wake Forest with an illness.
“Russ was fighting something; he was coughing the whole plane ride to Winston-Salem and just did not feel well,” White said. “He was a little sluggish in shootaround, but he tried it. I thought he could give us a few minutes, and he did.”
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, senior Frank Anselem-Iba made up for his absence with a double-double, scoring 10 points, and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Georgia also received a huge game from freshman guard Blue Cain, who scored 17 points and pulled down eight boards.
“Not only did (Anselem-Iba) impact the game by going 10 and 10, but he impacted the game by flying around and blocking. Six offensive rebounds, creating energy, our guys were feeding off that,” White said. “Blue is a guy who has learned how hard you need to play at this level, against the SEC, the ACC, and now, the Big Ten. To grab the eight rebounds, he wasn’t doing that in November.”
The game saw 13 lead changes, the last one coming with 36 seconds left on a jumper by Thomasson.
After Ohio State missed its next shot, Cain sank a pair of free throws with 25 ticks remaining. That proved to be enough.
Ohio State would get off a pair of 3-point attempts in the final five seconds, but neither found their mark, allowing Georgia to hang on to the victory.
“As a team, we play really hard and everyone is there for each other,” Anselem-Iba said. “This entire NIT run, we’ve been playing hard, playing together. If other guys are playing hard, you’ve got no choice but to play hard, and that’s what we’re doing.”
The first half was about as even as it could be, although Georgia held the advantage until a dunk by Felix Okpara gave the Buckeyes a brief 24-23 lead with 5:24 left in the first half.
Ohio State would hold the edge until the final 1:51 when the two teams traded leads five times until Silas Demary Jr. hit a jumper with three seconds left to send the Bulldogs into the locker room up 36-35.
“This is just a group of guys who have character on and off the court,” White said. “They like each other, they compete and they’re just taking advantage of their opportunity.”
NOTES:
• With the win, Georgia has now reached the NIT semifinal for the third time in program history and first since 1998. The Bulldogs are now 3-0 in the NIT quarterfinals.
• Anselem-Ibe recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
• Georgia earned its sixth road win of the year by beating Ohio State in Columbus, the most in a single season since 2014-15.
• Cain’s 17 points were the fourth-most he’s scored in his career and the 11th time he’s reached double figures.
• Head coach Mike White has led the program to its best single-season win total in eight years during just his second campaign leading the Bulldogs.