Georgia Tech takes down Indiana in NIT

ATLANTA — Freshman Josh Okogie scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second half to lead Georgia Tech to a 75-63 win over Indiana in the first round of the NIT on Tuesday at McCamish Pavilion.

Okogie was 9 of 15 from the field and added seven rebounds and four assists, helping the Yellow Jackets improve to 14-0 when they score at least 70 points.

In the second round, Georgia Tech (18-15) will meet the winner of the Wednesday game between Belmont and Georgia.

The Yellow Jackets also got 19 points from reserve guard Tadric Jackson, 16 points and nine rebounds from Quinton Stephens and 11 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks from Ben Lammers.

Indiana (18-16) was led by Juwan Morgan with 14 points and six rebounds. The Hoosiers got 13 points and seven rebounds from Thomas Bryant, 11 points from James Blackmon Jr. and 10 points from Josh Newkirk.

Georgia Tech came out hot and used 3-pointers from Stephens and Corey Heyward to run off to a 17-4 lead. Indiana methodically pecked its way back into the game and tied it 24-24 on Blackmon’s layup.

Georgia Tech then outscored Indiana 10-3 and took a 34-27 halftime lead. Both teams were cold at the end; Indiana didn’t make a field goal in the final 4:19 of the half, and Georgia Tech was without a field goal for the final 2:33.

Indiana took the lead early in the second half on an 8-0 run that was punctuated by Bryant’s slam dunk, which gave the Hoosiers a 39-38 edge.

Georgia Tech regained the lead with a 7-0 run midway in the second half, with Okogie’s slam dunk putting the Yellow Jackets up 56-48. Indiana never got closer than six the rest of the game