Wednesday N.I.T. Turmoil 3/17

I know we are all preparing ourselves for lunchtime on Thursday, but that's no reason not to check out some pretty descent basketball action before hand.

Like I was told hundreds of times in school, and ignored every time, don't judge a book by its cover.

Yeah, it might be the NIT, but since at least 15 of the teams in the NCAA tournament got there because of automatic bids, you have to figure that the majority of the teams ranked No. 30 to No. 50 in the country will be invited to this second tier tourney.

If you are a college basketball fan, you like seeing competitive basketball, and I honestly believe there are a handful of matchups in the N.I.T that will feature competitive basketball.

I mean, I would much rather watch Georgetown vs. Baylor rather than Missouri vs. Cornell, even if there isn't a lot at stake.


Tuesday's Results


— No. 6 Davidson 70, No. 3 South Carolina 63—Davidson might not be the Cinderella anymore, but that didn't stop Steph Curry from dropping 30-plus points for the 15th time this season.


— No. 2 Penn St. 77, No. 7 George Mason 73—Maybe it's because I currently reside in Pennsylvania (not for long), but I have been all about Penn State this year.

They were just a Mississippi State loss away from making the Big Dance, and Talor Battle is proving to everyone that he is a play maker.

He hit another buzzer-beater, this time to send the game into overtime. In OT, Battle scored eight of PSU's 10 points, and sealed the deal for the Nittany Lions.


— No. 2 Notre Dame 70, No. 7 UAB 64—The bar scene in South Bend must have been out of control this night, because there was literally nobody at this game.

But again it was St. Patrick's Day, and this is Notre Dame we are talking about here.

UAB should have been a tournament team this year, but by the time conference play started they were down to six scholarship players.

Luke Harangody dominated against a much smaller Blazers squad. But let me reiterate something I have been saying for the past two years: Robert Vaden is a stud. He had 16 points before halftime, but still, UAB's season is over.


— No. 4 Kentucky 70, No. 5 UNLV 60—Rupp Arena was already being used (High School State Playoffs) so UK played in their practice gym, and although they struggled early, they put together a solid second half to get the win.

But more importantly, the win silenced any talk of firing coach Billy Gillespie.

Wait, this is the NIT? Yea, Gillespie is still screwed.

Other N.I.T. Results

— No. 3 New Mexico 83, No. 6 Nebraska 71
—No. 1 San Diego St. 65, No. 8 Weber St. 49
— No. 7 Washington St. 57, No. 2 St. Mary's 68
—No. 6 Rhode Island 68, No. 3 Niagara 62


Wednesday's Games
—7:00PM: No. 7 Duquesne @ No. 2 Virginia Tech
—7:00PM: No. 4 Miami (FL) @ No. 5 Providence —ESPN2
—8:00PM: No. 8 Tennessee-Martin @ No. 1 Auburn
—8:00PM: No. 8 Bowling Green @ No. 1 Creighton
—8:00PM: No. 8 Jacksonville @ No. 1 Florida
—9:00PM: No. 6 Georgetown @ No. 3 Baylor — 9 pm —ESPN2
—8:00PM: No. 5 Illinois State @ No. 4 Kansas State
—9:00PM: No. 5 Northwestern @ No. 4 Tulsa — 9 pm