Brooklyn, NY – Jordan Hulls had 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including four made 3-pointers, and added four assists and four rebounds as No. 1 Indiana used a late second-half surge to take a 66-53 win over Georgia in the semifinals of the Progressive Legends Classic.
Victor Oladipo posted 15 points and eight rebounds while Christian Watford had 14 points for the Hoosiers (4-0), who will take on Georgetown in the tournament title match on Tuesday.
"I thought we had a lot of energy sources tonight," said Indiana head coach Tom Crean. "No question about it, Jordan Hulls is a huge part of that. With all the NBA people here tonight, that is an NBA guard....that young man is a huge winner whose got a lot of skills and he improves constantly."
Vincent Williams and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each gave 14 points for the Bulldogs (1-3), who have dropped three straight games.
Indiana was trailing 30-29 going into the second half and the game stayed close for the first several minutes of the period, but Oladipo tied it with two free throws and Remy Abell gave Hoosiers a 40-38 lead with two free throws just over six minutes in.
After Watford buried a 3-pointer for a 45-40 lead shortly afterward, Caldwell- Pope answered with a pair from the line to bring Georgia back within three.
Hulls, though, hit consecutive 3-balls and Oladipo added a jumper after a Georgia turnover for a 53-42 advantage with seven minutes remaining.
Another jumper from Hulls later on gave the Hoosiers a 12-point lead at 57-45, but Georgia's Nemanja Djurisic followed with a layup. Indiana, though, scored the next seven points, with Yogi Ferrell's layup making it a 64-47 game that sealed the contest with 2 1/2 minutes left.
Georgia had a five-point lead early in the game and held a 29-25 advantage off a Williams jumper with just over a minute to play before intermission, but Will Sheehey and Watford made baskets to tie it for Indiana before Williams hit 1-of-2 from the line late in the half to give the Bulldogs a 30-29 lead at the break.
Game Notes
Indiana went just 8-for-25 from the floor in the first half, including 1-of-7 from long range, but made 14-of-24 shots and went 4-for-9 on 3- pointers in the second half ... Georgia went just 17-for-50 in the game, including 9-of-25 from 3-point range ... Indiana dominated the boards, 40-24 ... Indiana has won all four games against Georgia. The last meeting was in the 1976 Sugar Bowl Classic Tournament.
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