NIT 2015: Friday's 2nd-Round Scores, Updated Bracket and Saturday Schedule

While most of the college basketball fans across the country were busy soaking up the madness of the NCAA tournament from afternoon until the wee hours of the morning, Vanderbilt flexed its muscles in the NIT against an overmatched South Dakota State squad.

The Commodores capitalized on their home-court advantage and advanced into the third round of the NIT. They are now one win away from a semifinals date in Madison Square Garden.

With that in mind, here is a look at the essential information from Friday’s NIT developments.

Friday’s Scores

Vanderbilt 92, South Dakota State 77

Bracket

A full, updated bracket can be found here, courtesy of CBS Sports.

Saturday Schedule 

Miami vs. Alabama, 11 a.m. ET, ESPN

Friday Recap

Vanderbilt 92, South Dakota State 77

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

The Commodores looked like the power conference team in this one and gradually pulled away from the Jackrabbits for a 92-77 victory. They took a six-point lead into the locker room and then extended that to double digits with timely rebounding, excellent interior defense and impressive individual efforts nearly across the board.

In fact, five different players scored in double figures.

Still, the night belonged to Wade Baldwin IV, who was a single assist away from a triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and two steals. Incredibly, he scored 20 points but only shot eight shots from the field because he made eight free throws and hit two three-pointers. 

While Baldwin was the headline-maker Friday, Will Pridemore, the Director of NCAA Compliance for Weber State University, noted that it was the Commodores’ ability to protect the rim that made a major difference on the defensive side:

In all, Vanderbilt ended up with 13 blocks and a 38-31 rebounding advantage. Matthew Fisher-Davis led the way with four swats from the guard position, while Luke Kornet blocked four shots of his own off the bench.

Interestingly, the Commodores enjoyed some home-court advantage because their head coach, Kevin Stallings, bought 500 students tickets for $5 apiece in an effort to create a better atmosphere.

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

Stallings discussed the decision, via Adam Sparks of The Tennessean: "It will be interesting to see what kind of crowd shows up…This is an unexpected opportunity, for us to play another home game. I hope they show up and really support our team to give us an advantage. That's the value of being able to play here."

The move paid off, as Vanderbilt is now a single victory away from reaching the Mecca of Basketball at Madison Square Garden. It will play the winner of the Rhode Island and Stanford matchup in the quarterfinals.

It is easy to be encouraged as a Vanderbilt supporter at this point of the NIT because of how well the club is playing down the season's final stretch. The Commodores have won seven of their past eight games; their only loss in that stretch came in heartbreaking fashion to Tennessee in the SEC tournament.

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

They also challenged Kentucky earlier in the season, beat Florida and knocked off Purdue in the nonconference portion of the schedule.

When they are playing at their best, the Commodores can challenge any team in the NIT field. Damian Jones is a potential future NBA player down low, and Baldwin played arguably his best game of the season Friday night when he almost tallied a triple-double. 

That combination only needs to win one more game to bring the program into something of a spotlight at the NIT semifinals.

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