Georgia Tech 83, South Carolina 66

[March 22, 2016]  Senior guard Adam Smith made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points to help Georgia Tech rout South Carolina 83-66 on Monday in Columbia, S.C., to reach the NIT quarterfinals.

Senior guard Marcus Georges-Hunt added 14 points and eight assists and senior forward Charles Mitchell had 12 points and seven rebounds for the fourth-seeded Yellow Jackets (21-14). Junior forward Quinton Stephens had 11 points and senior forward Nick Jacobs had 10 points and 10 rebounds as Georgia Tech won for the eighth time in the past 10 games.

Senior forward Michael Carrera scored 17 points for the top-seeded Gamecocks (25-9), who lost six of their final 10 games. Freshman guard P.J. Dozier added 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting for South Carolina, which was outrebounded by a 39-21 margin.

The Yellow Jackets, who made 11 of 22 3-pointers, visit second-seeded San Diego State in Wednesday's quarterfinal round.

Georgia Tech displayed it was interested in advancing with an early 12-2 burst to open up an 11-point lead less than nine minutes into the contest. An 11-1 surge later in the half gave the Yellow Jackets a 36-19 advantage and they took a 42-28 lead into the break.

The assault continued in the second half when Georgia Tech scored 12 of the first 13 points to make it a 25-point margin with 17:19 remaining. The lead topped 30 for the first time when junior guard Josh Heath drained a 3-pointer to make it 67-36 with 10:56 left.

South Carolina played without five suspended players for the second straight game due to a "conduct issue" -- sophomore guard Marcus Stroman, freshmen forwards Chris Silva and Eric Cobb and freshman guards TeMarcus Blanton and freshman guard Jamall Gregory.

Cobb and Gregory were both arrested after their suspensions began for an incident involving shooting BB pellet guns at cars and buildings.

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