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Georgia Tech Basketball: Jackets clinch trip to New York with 74-66 win over Ole Miss

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

Feb 26, 2017; South Bend, IN, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Josh Pastner signals to his players in the second half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame won 64-60. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 26, 2017; South Bend, IN, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Josh Pastner signals to his players in the second half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame won 64-60. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets continued their run in the NIT Tournament on Tuesday night defeating the fifth-seeded Ole Miss Rebels 74-66.

Ben Lammers and Josh Okogie lead the charge for Georgia Tech on Tuesday, both shooting lights out with combined 46 points and 11 rebounds. Lammers also contributed eight blocks on Tuesday night, his second game of five or more blocks in the NIT. Senior Quinton Stephens also contributed ten points in the win on Tuesday night.

Overall, the Yellow Jackets shot over 50% from the field on Tuesday night their first game doing so since their win over Division II Tusculum on February 7th.

The 74-66 win on Tuesday night in the NIT Quarterfinal also marked the 20th victory of the season for the Ramblin Wreck. It marks the second straight season of 20 wins after failing to hit the mark from the 2010-11 season to the 2014-15 season. The victory also sends the Jackets to the NIT Semifinals that will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Normally a strong team from beyond the arch, Ole Miss struggled on Tuesday night just hitting  6-of-28 three-point attempts, a mere 21.4%. Compare that to their shooting percentages of 46.9 and 45.0 in their first two games of the tournament, it’s day and night and easy to see why the Rebels offense struggled at times on Tuesday.

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Ole Miss’s best shooter and player overall heading into the game, Deandre Burnett shot just 2-for-15 against the Yellow Jackets including being just 1-for-9 from beyond the arch. With that being said, Georgia Tech struggled themselves from beyond the arch hitting just 3-of-15 from three-point range.

Cullen Neal, son of former Yellow Jacket Craig Neal tried to single-handedly bring back the Rebels on Tuesday, dropping 10 of his 13 points in the second half. The best performance from a Rebel however on Tuesday was from senior forward Sebastian Saiz who was dominant for Ole Miss with 19 points and 15 rebounds.

One major point of emphasis for the Yellow Jackets all season has been their shooting at the free throw line. Tuesday night was a prime example of the good that can happen when succeeding at making the shots from the charity stripe. After making just 68% of their free throws during the regular season an average of 13-for-19 per game, the Jackets made 17-for-20 on Tuesday.

One facet of the game for the Yellow Jackets to work on however before their next game will be their passing. At times throughout the game, the Jackets passing was simply horrendous, making up most of their 15 turnovers.

The Yellow Jackets will now have a few days off before they make the trip up to Madison Square Garden for the semifinals. While no date or time has been set for the game, the Jackets know their opponent will either be California Bakersfield or UT-Arlington who play each other on Wednesday night.