Okogie leads Georgia Tech into NIT semifinals

[March 22, 2017]  Freshman Josh Okogie scored 26 points and went 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in the final two minutes, helping Georgia Tech defeat Ole Miss 74-66 in the NIT quarterfinals Tuesday at The Pavilion in Oxford, Miss.

Georgia Tech (20-15) plays CSU Bakersfield or Texas-Arlington in the semifinals March 28 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Okogie was 8 of 17 from the field and 9 of 10 from the line, with seven rebounds and two assists. Center Ben Lammers added 20 points on 9 for 11 shooting from the floor, with four steals, four rebounds, four assists and eight blocked shots. Quinton Stephens had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Ole Miss (22-14) got 19 points and 15 rebounds from Sebastian Saiz, who became the seventh SEC player to finish his career with 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 100 blocked shots.

The Rebels also got 15 points from Terence Davis and 13 points from Cullen Neal.

Ole Miss cut the lead to four points on three occasions in the final four minutes, but never got closer. The Yellow Jackets went 6 for 8 at the line in the final 1:22 to seal the win.

Georgia Tech used a 16-4 run midway in the first half to take a 26-13 lead. After Ole Miss clawed back to within seven points, the Yellow Jackets use a 10-2 run to go ahead by 15, their largest lead, on Okogie's layup with 3:40 left.

Ole Miss scored seven straight points in the final two minutes and were within seven points again, but Georgia Tech got a layup from Justin Moore with six seconds left and took a 39-30 lead at the half.

The Georgia Tech defense took advantage of poor Ole Miss shooting (36 percent) in the first half and scored 11 points off turnovers. Ole Miss was 2 for 13 on 3-pointers in the half.

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