National Basketball Association
Louisiana Tech 79, Georgia 71
When: 11:00 AM ET, Saturday, March 22, 2014
Where: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Georgia
Officials:
# James Barker, # Rick Crawford, # Jeb Hartness
Attendance:
3692
By SportsDirect Inc.
Louisiana Tech 79, Georgia 71: Four players scored in double figures, led by Alex Hamilton's 20 points, as Louisiana Tech survived a late rally by host Georgia in an all-Bulldogs matchup in the second round of the NIT.
Chris Anderson had 18 points and eight rebounds while Cordarius Johnson scored 16 and was 6-of-7 from the field - 3-of-3 from long range - for third-seeded Louisiana Tech (29-7), which will face Georgetown or Florida State in the quarterfinals. Kenyon McNeail also made three 3-pointers and finished with 14 points while Michale Kyser recorded seven blocks for seventh-seeded Louisiana Tech, which led by 19 points at the half before holding on down the stretch.
No. 2 Georgia (20-14) was led by J.J. Frazier's 15 points but shot only 14-of-23 from the foul line and committed 19 turnovers. Charles Mann added 13 points for Georgia.
Louisiana Tech dominated the first half, making seven of its 12 3-point attempts and forcing 13 turnovers en route to a 46-27 lead at intermission. Louisiana Tech jumped out to leads of 8-0 and 18-2 before later making five straight 3-pointers - the first three by McNeail and the last two by Anderson - to open up a 37-13 advantage with eight minutes to play in the half.
Georgia went on a 15-4 run throughout the latter portion of the second half and sliced its deficit down to 62-55 with 4 1/2 minutes left before Louisiana Tech's next three possessions featured two free throws by Hamilton, a dunk by Anderson and a 3-pointer by Kenneth Smith to push the margin back to 13. Georgia continued to hang tough, closing to within 75-71 on Frazier's banked-in 3-pointer with about 15 seconds left before Hamilton made two free throws and Georgia missed a 3-pointer on the other end.
GAME NOTEBOOK: By halftime, Louisiana Tech already had three players in double figures - Johnson (12 points), McNeail (11) and Anderson (10). ... Georgia committed 42 turnovers in its two NIT games, with Mann accounting for 14 of those. ... Georgia finished with a 40-30 rebounding advantage over Louisiana Tech, which entered ranked 15th in the nation on the boards.
Top Game Performances
Louisiana Tech |
|
Georgia |
Alex Hamilton 20 |
Scoring |
J.J. Frazier 15 |
Kenneth Smith 4 |
Assists |
Cameron Forte 2 |
Chris Anderson 8 |
Rebounds |
Charles Mann 6 |
Alex Hamilton 7 |
Free Throws Made |
Charles Mann 5 |
Alex Hamilton 3 |
Steals |
Charles Mann 2 |
Michale Kyser 7 |
Blocks |
Tim Dixon 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Louisiana Tech
|
79 |
47.3 |
9-22 |
18-26 |
11 |
29 |
8 |
13 |
14 |
Georgia
|
71 |
45.6 |
5-12 |
14-23 |
8 |
36 |
5 |
7 |
19 |