Chattanooga Beats UC Irvine in OT to Win 2025 NIT Championship, Celebrated by CBB Fans

Chattanooga has won the National Invitation Tournament after defeating UC Irvine 85-84 in overtime in Indianapolis on Thursday evening.

Garrison Keeslar's jumper put the Mocs up 85-84 with 11 seconds remaining.

UC Irvine committed a turnover on the other end, leading to a foul with two seconds remaining. However, Mocs guard Honor Huff missed a pair of free throws, giving UC Irvine one last shot after a timeout.

Remarkably, they executed the perfect full-court, inbounds play, leading to Jurian Dixon finding himself wide open for a tournament-winning layup attempt. However, he missed the shot, leaving the Mocs as champions.

Irvine held a 73-67 lead with 2:30 left in regulation, but Keeslar's three cut the lead in half. After a UC Irvine free throw, Keeslar hit another three, this time to slash the deficit to 74-73 with 1:14 remaining.

Huff then got fouled on a three with 16 seconds left and made all his free throws for a 76-74 edge. But then Irvine's Myles Che got fouled on a three. He hit 2-of-3 from the charity stripe, tying the game at 76 with 13 seconds left.

The Mocs' Collin Mulholland had two shots for the championship in regulation but could not connect.

All was well for Chattanooga, though, in the end.

Trey Bonham and Mulholland scored 19 points to lead the Mocs, with the former player notably hitting a half-court shot to end the first half.

That made Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens, who starred at Chattanooga, quite happy.

For the Mocs, Keeslar and Huff also added 14 points apiece. Meanwhile, all five UC Irvine starters scored in double digits, led by Devin Tillis' 19 points. Justin Hohn scored 17, while Bent Leuchten added a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double. Dixon scored 16 points.

Chattanooga, the first-time NIT champs, finished the year at 29-9 after a great NIT run. The Mocs weren't even seeded but engineered a great stretch that included wins over Middle Tennessee, Dayton, Bradley and Loyola-Chicago before the championship.

UC Irvine, which fell on the wrong end of the NCAA tournament bubble, ended a great season at 32-7.