NIT 2015: Tuesday's Quarterfinals Scores, Updated Bracket and Wednesday Schedule

If you aren’t going to play in the NCAA tournament, reaching Madison Square Garden in the NIT is an impressive consolation prize.

That is exactly what was at stake for the NIT quarterfinalists Tuesday. The semifinals and championship game take place in the Mecca of Basketball, and all that stood in the way of reaching that goal entering play Tuesday for Miami, Richmond, Vanderbilt and Stanford was a single victory.

With that in mind, here is a look at Tuesday’s quarterfinal scores, Wednesday's schedule and more.

Tuesday’s Quarterfinal Scores

Matchup	Result
Miami vs. Richmond	63-61, Miami
Vanderbilt vs. Stanford	78-75, Stanford

Updated Bracket 

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

Wednesday Schedule

Matchup	Time	TV	Live Stream
Murray State vs. Old Dominion	7 p.m. ET	ESPN 2	WatchESPN
Temple vs. Louisiana Tech	9 p.m. ET	ESPN 2	WatchESPN

Tuesday Recap

Miami 63, Richmond 61

Gerry Broome/Associated Press

Miami may have been the power-conference team from the ACC with a victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium over Duke on its resume, but Richmond was the stronger squad for the majority of the game Tuesday. Unfortunately for the Spiders, they couldn’t hold off a strong comeback effort from the Hurricanes.

Miami emerged with the narrow 63-61 victory, although it made things far more interesting than they had to be in the final second when Manu Lecomte fouled Richmond’s ShawnDre’ Jones on a three-pointer when the Hurricanes led 63-59. Jones only hit two, and Miami held on for dear life and the victory. 

The team’s official Twitter account put it perfectly:

Sheldon McClellan led the way for the Hurricanes with 16 points and six rebounds, while three different Miami players ended up in double figures. The balanced scoring attack was key as the Hurricanes overcame a 12-point halftime deficit and 18-point second-half deficit.

Part of the reason Miami fell behind by so much was its inability to stop Richmond’s sharp-shooting big man, T.J. Cline. Cline spearheaded the Spiders’ offensive attack with 17 points and earned some praise from John O’Connor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Josh Matthews of VillageNewsOnline.com in the process:

Ultimately, the Hurricanes dialed up the pressure in the stretch run, which was too much for the Spiders. Richmond just couldn’t get the shots late in the game that it did in the first half and start of the second half, and O’Connor made a point of noting the defensive pressure from Miami:

The Hurricanes were on the bubble for the Big Dance for much of the season, but an NIT championship would be a solid way to finish off the campaign. They took a major step overcoming a commanding deficit Tuesday to reach New York.

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Such success could pay off next season as well, as coach Jim Larranaga suggested before the NIT, via Matt Porter of the Palm Beach Post.

"There’s only 100 teams still playing. I’d like to keep playing, and I’d like to think my team wants to keep playing," Larranaga said. "One of the things is, we have so many underclassmen that will be back next year, that if we could do very well in the NIT, it would be a great foundation for next season."

Miami added to that foundation with an impressive comeback Tuesday.

Stanford 78, Vanderbilt 75

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Stanford may have missed its opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament, but it earned its spot in the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden with a 78-75 victory over Vanderbilt Tuesday.

The Cardinal controlled the majority of the game and opened up a five-point lead at halftime and a double-digit lead during the second half. However, Vanderbilt battled back throughout the final 10 minutes and had the ball down three with 10 seconds remaining.

With the Stanford crowd on the edge of its seat, Vanderbilt’s Matthew Fisher-Davis launched a potential game-tying three from deep. The result was an air-ball, and the Cardinal fans and players exhaled in relief.

The relief was temporary because Marcus Allen missed both free throws with the chance to ice the game in the final seconds. Fisher-Davis heaved a half-court attempt at the buzzer, but it fell short.

Anthony Brown led the way for Stanford with 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists and a steal, while Chasson Randle chipped in 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Brown hit what appeared to be the dagger with less than three minutes remaining. Vanderbilt closed the gap to 68-62, but Brown calmly drilled a three-pointer from well behind the line to push the advantage to 71-62.

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

To the Commodores’ credit, they bounced back and trimmed the lead to 77-75 with 22 seconds remaining behind timely shooting. The biggest problem for the Cardinal during that stretch was multiple turnovers in the final minute that helped open the door for a Vanderbilt team that loves to shoot the three. 

Ironically, part of the reason the Cardinal were able to control the tempo on their home floor against the Commodores early was the way they avoided costly mistakes in the first half. The team’s official Twitter account praised the players for their efforts along those lines:

Fisher-Davis spearheaded the Vanderbilt attack with 18 points and helped the Commodores make it interesting down the stretch after falling behind by double digits. His six made three-pointers were critical in the comeback efforts, although he missed the chance to tie the game in the final seconds. 

Big man Damian Jones probably would have provided Fisher-Davis with more help and turned in a better game than his eight-point performance if the officials blew their whistles more, if 247Sports’ Jesse Johnson’s comments were any indication:

Still, the Commodores ultimately had to point to their slow start as the reason for defeat. 

Now Stanford has the opportunity to go to New York and build toward next season with a potential NIT title. The team’s official Twitter account noted this is business as usual for the Cardinal:

Stanford was probably a marquee victory or two away from reaching the Big Dance this season, and this performance in the NIT should jumpstart next year’s campaign.