Georgia basketball headed to NIT semifinals after downing Ohio State on the road

Georgia basketball went 26 years between road victories in the NIT before winning Sunday at Wake Forest.

This time it got another just 51 hours later.

The No. 4 seeded Bulldogs got an 18-foot step-back, go-ahead jumper from Noah Thomasson with 36 seconds to go and the Bulldogs downed No. 2 seed Ohio State 79-77 Tuesday night in Value City Arena in a quarterfinal game to keep their season rolling for another week.

"Really proud of these guys," said coach Mike White, whose team left Monday morning from Winston-Salem and arrived in Columbus at lunchtime. "Really tough environment the other day. Even tougher environment tonight. Been on the road a while. It seems like a month."

More: Georgia basketball coach Mike White: 5-star Asa Newell 'has a chance to be special player'

More: Georgia basketball coach Mike White: Revved-up Stegeman home fans 'puts us in the game'

Georgia sealed the deal with freshman Blue Cain adding a pair of free throws with 25.1 seconds to go and then closing it out after Ohio State's Bruce Thornton from Milton High made one of two free throws.

Ohio State got two chances to win. Thornton missed a 3 with 5 seconds left and the Buckeyes got the ball with 1.3 to go. Jamison Battle's 3-pointer from the left side hit off the rim and the Bulldogs prevailed.

Before this week, Georgia’s last road NIT win was March 17, 1998, a 61-55 victory over N.C. State.

Thomasson led Georgia with 21 and Cain added 17 points and a career-high 8 rebounds.

"I knew that getting to my step-back, going to my right is hard for a lot of people to guard," Thomasson said. "The basketball gods blessed me and let me make the shot. A big-time shot just happens."

Georgia Bulldogs headed to Indianapolis

Georgia (20-16) slipped into the NIT after Ole Miss declined a spot, moving the Bulldogs up to grab an automatic SEC bid along with LSU.

Now Georgia is two wins away from winning the 32-team tournament.

"This is a big deal for us in terms of rebuilding this program," White said.

Georgia moves on to the NIT semifinals next Tuesday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. It will play the winner of Wednesday’s game between Seton Hall (22-12) and UNLV (21-12).

It’s Georgia's third trip to the semifinals in 15 appearances.

Georgia won a game with 13 lead changes, 5 ties and runs by both teams.

"Our resiliency, our toughness, our willingness to want to continue to compete and fight for one another was on full display," White said.

Ohio State, which got 22 points from Battle, ended its season 22-14.

The Bulldogs last reached the NIT semifinals in 1998, losing to Penn State. It also advanced to the semifinals in 1982, falling to Purdue.

Georgia leaned on committee at center

Georgia mixed and matched at center once again.

Usual starter Russel Tchewa, the 7-footer, came off the bench after missing the Wake Forest game with an illness, but played just 5 minutes—all in the first half with 0 points and 1 rebound.

Frank Anselem-Ibe started for the second straight game and Jalen DeLoach came off the bench.

Anselem-Ibe, the Syracuse transfer, had season highs with 10 points--including a pair of dunks during a 13-2 early second-half run for Georgia—and 10 rebounds.

"If Frank didn't play so well, I'm not sure we don't throw Russ back out there," White said.

Said Anselem-Ibe: "This entire NIT run, we've been playing hard together. If your brothers are playing hard, you have no choice but to play hard, too."

The Bulldogs interior defense, a sore spot for much of the year, was exploited by Felix Okpara, a 6-11 Nigerian who had 5 first-half dunks, four off alley-oops. He finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds.

Ohio State had 12 assists on 15 first-half field goals, with Thornton accounting 5 of those assists. He finished with 13 points and 10 assists.

Georgia basketball coach Mike White's first NIT semifinal

Six of White’s teams have reached the NIT. This was the fourth time he’s led them to the NIT quarterfinals, but his first trip beyond that.

He coached Louisiana Tech to the NIT quarterfinals in 2014 and 2015, Florida in 2016 and now Georgia in 2024. His 2013 Louisiana Tech team and his 2022 Florida team lost in the second round, but White didn’t coach in that NIT with that last Gators team after taking the Georgia job.

Georgia, of course, had its sights set on getting to the NCAA tournament, but went 6-12 in the SEC.

"I love the character that our guys are showing," White said. "Playing with gratitude, playing with appreciation. Thanks for the opportunity. We're going to take full advantage. That's huge. To get to 20 (wins) is really big."

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia Bulldogs pull out NIT win at Ohio State, heading to semifinals