Georgia Tech Basketball: Yellow Jackets fall to San Diego State, 72-56

After demolishing South Carolina on Monday night, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets had to head across country for an NIT Quarterfinal matchup against the San Diego State Aztecs.

In a game where it never looked like they had much left in the tank due to that trip, the Jackets were completely outplayed in a 72-56 loss to the Aztecs on Wednesday night.

Despite being tied at 31-apiece going into the half, Tech was unable to bring the energy in the second half and managed only 25 points, compared to 41 from San Diego State. The Aztecs used a late run and some strong support from a sellout crowd to put the Jackets away late in the game. The score was close for much of the contest, but Tech never got it close in the final five minutes.

Some of that energy was used in the first half, when the Jackets used a strong run late in the first half to tie the game up heading to the locker room. The Aztecs got out to an early 21-11 lead, but Tech used a 20-10 run to knot it up.

The main problem in the second half was turnovers and scoring in the paint. After winning the paint battle in the first half, Tech was completely stopped down low after halftime. At one point later in the second half, the Jackets had just two points in the paint compared to over 20 from the Aztecs. Thanks to a -7 in the turnover category, San Diego State was able to attempt 12 more shots than the Jackets, which made all the difference since the teams' percentages from the floor were nearly identical.

Marcus Georges-Hunt closed out his career at Georgia Tech in a respectable fashion, which was encouraging after a disappointing finish in the ACC Tournament. He ended up with 18 points, six rebounds, and three assists on 6-14 shooting. Charles Mitchell also finished his career at Tech with yet another double-double, closing out with 12 points and 12 rebounds on 5-8 shooting.

Thanks to two NIT wins, Georgia Tech surpassed 20 wins on the year, finishing at 21-15 for the 2015-16 campaign.