ATLANTA — Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt knew it was just a matter of time until his Yellow Jackets found a way to score.

Zachery Peacock scored 18 points to lead four Georgia Tech players in double figures and the Yellow Jackets put on a shooting clinic in the second half to rout Kennesaw State 80-55 on Tuesday.

"The first half was a case of us just not executing," said Hewitt. "In the second half I thought we did a much better job executing and getting the ball where we wanted to be."

Peacock was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and 2 of 2 from 3-point range. He also had seven rebounds.

"It surprised me, too. My teammates gave me the ball every time I was open," said Peacock, a senior who was averaging 8.3 points a game off the bench after being a starter for most of his career."

Brian Oliver had 14 points for the Yellow Jackets (9-2). Gani Lawal added 11 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double and Derrick Favors had 11 points.

The Yellow Jackets, who dropped out of the rankings at No. 22 after Sunday's 66-59 overtime loss to Florida State, hit on 13 of their first 15 shots in the second half, including 4-for-4 on 3's to take a 61-36 lead with 8:21 left on a 3-point basket by Oliver.

"Zach has been very consistent for us all year," said Hewitt, adding he told Peacock to shoot more after not shooting much in the first couple of games.

"When he does that, he opens up the floor and takes our basketball team to a whole new dimension," said Hewitt.

Georgia Tech, which led only 27-16 at halftime, made 19 of 29 shots overall to blow the game open in the second half. The Yellow Jackets were 7 of 10 on three-point attempts. Their biggest lead was 31 at 79-48 with 1:59 left to play.

Kurtis Woods led Kennesaw State (4-7) with 18 points. Spencer Dixon added 12 and Markeith Cummings had 10.

Peacock led the Yellow Jackets with eight points on 4 of 4 shooting and five rebounds in the opening half. Kennesaw State's leading scorer freshman Cummings went 0-for-6 from the field and had only three points at intermission.

"Bottom line, we couldn't make shots to begin with. You need to make shots along gthe way to keep your confidence up," said Kennesaw coach Tony Ingle.

The Owls were 5-of-26 (19 percent) in the opening half.

"Georgia Tech played good defense, but we had some looks. It would have been more interesting if we had made a few more shots early," said Ingle.

The Yellow Jackets biggest first-half lead was 13 points at 23-10 with 2:44 left after Tech went on a 10-0 run. Brian Oliver hit back-to-back 3s in the run.

Tech hit on 11 of 28 (39 percent) at the break but wound up shooting 30-for-57 (53 percent) for the game, including 9-for-18 3's (50 percent). The Owls made only 5 of 26 (19 percent) and hit only 1 of 9 3's in the opening half and wound up hitting 20 of 59 (34 percent), including 9 of 25 3's (36 percent).