Jacksonville State ends Georgia Tech’s basketball season in NIT

Staff Reports

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball season came to an end on Tuesday night with an 81-64 loss to visiting Jacksonville State in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament at McCamish Pavilion.

Making its first postseason appearance since 2021, Tech lost for only the fifth time in 13 games since Feb. 1. The Yellow Jackets closed the season at 17-17 overall and 10-10 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, both records their best since they won the ACC championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2021.

In Tuesday’s return to the postseason, the Jackets were never able to get going, as they fell behind by seven points less than five minutes into the game and never led. Tech shot just 35.3% from the field (22-of-62) – its fifth-lowest shooting percentage of the season – while Jacksonville State (23-12) made 51.7% of its shots (31-of-60), tied for the fourth-highest percentage by a GT opponent this season. The Gamecocks made 50% of their 3-point attempts (15-of-30).

Georgia Tech was led in scoring by Duncan Powell and Lance Terry, who each had 15 points, respectively.

Conference USA Player of the Year Jaron Pierre, Jr. led all scorers with 30 points for Jacksonville State, which advanced to the second round of the NIT, where it will play the winner of Wednesday’s UC Irvine-Northern Colorado game.