TCU takes NIT title in rout of Georgia Tech

NEW YORK — Texas Christian claimed its first NIT championship with an 88-56 wire-to-wire win over Georgia Tech on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.

Kenrich Williams recorded his second straight double-double of the tournament for TCU (24-15), scoring 25 points with 12 rebounds. He had four of his team’s 12 steals. Vlad Brodziansky netted 18 points for the Horned Frogs.

Tadric Jackson topped Georgia Tech (21-16) with 19 points. Freshman Josh Okogie, who entered the final as the tournament’s leading scorer averaging 21.5 points, was limited to 12 points by a swarming Horned Frogs defense.

TCU’s front line, particularly forwards Williams and Brodziansky, overwhelmed the Yellow Jackets by scoring 44 points in the paint and 21 second chance points. The Horned Frogs claimed 26 points off 16 turnovers in their most dominance performance of the season.

The Horned Frogs put together two monstrous runs to pull away with the game — one at the start, the other at the finish.

A 19-0 blitz increased the TCU lead to 79-49 with 2:23 remaining. Georgia Tech went 9:46 without a basket.

TCU upped its lead to 56-39 with a 7-0 run with 14:32 left. Georgia Tech went 8:32 without a basket.

The Horned Frogs scored 12 points off seven Georgia Tech turnovers and led 38-27 at the half. The Yellow Jackets made only 9 of their 28 (32 percent) shots and trailed by double digits for most of the half.

A 10-0 spurt from the Yellow Jackets sliced the TCU lead to 21-15.

TCU opened with a 20-3 run, six points coming from Brodziansky and Miller and 12 coming from the paint. The Yellow Jackets missed their first six shots.

Notes: Georgia Tech leads the series, 2-1. … TCU coach Jamie Dixon has had a 20-plus win season in 13 of his 14 seasons as a head coach. … 38 games played is the most in TCU history. … This is Georgia Tech’s first NIT final since losing to North Carolina in 1971. … The Yellow Jackets established a new program record for home wins (17) in a season. … TCU’s 12-game win improvement over last season is the largest in program history.