NIT 2017: Wednesday Round 1 Scores, Updated Bracket and 2nd-Round Schedule

The first round of the 2017 National Invitation Tournament continued Wednesday, with eight games spread across the country.

No game garnered more interest than the Syracuse Orange's clash with the UNC Greensboro Spartans. Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim stated his desire never to see the ACC tournament return to Greensboro, North Carolina, again, which led the city's Twitter account to highlight the Orange's second-round exit from the tourney.

The Spartans had an opportunity to defend Greensboro's honor Wednesday inside the Carrier Dome.

Below is a brief recap of the day's NIT action.

First-Round Scores

Matchup	Result/Time (ET)
No. 7 Belmont vs. No. 2 Georgia	78-69, Belmont
No. 5 Colorado vs. No. 4 UCF	79-74, UCF
No. 8 UNC Greensboro vs. No. 1 Syracuse	90-77, Syracuse
No. 7 Akron vs. No. 2 Houston	78-75, Akron
No. 5 Fresno State vs. No. 4 TCU	66-59, TCU
No. 8 South Dakota vs. No. 1 Iowa	87-75, Iowa
No. 8 UC Irvine vs. No. 1 Illinois State	85-71, Illinois State
No. 6 UT Arlington vs. No. 3 BYU	105-89, UT Arlington

Second-Round Schedule

Matchup	Date	TV Info	Live Stream
No. 1 Syracuse vs. No. 5 Ole Miss	TBA	TBA	Watch ESPN
No. 6 Georgia Tech vs. No. 7 Belmont	TBA	TBA	Watch ESPN
No. 8 Cal State Bakersfield vs. No. 4 Colorado State	TBA	TBA	Watch ESPN
No. 6 UT Arlington vs. No. 7 Akron	TBA	TBA	Watch ESPN
No. 1 Illinois State vs. No. 4 UCF	TBA	TBA	Watch ESPN
No. 6 Boise State vs. No. 2 Illinois	TBA	TBA	Watch ESPN
No. 1 Iowa vs. No. 4 TCU	TBA	TBA	Watch ESPN
No. 6 Richmond vs. No. 7 Oakland	TBA	TBA	Watch ESPN

Wednesday Recap

Belmont 78, Georgia 69

The Belmont Bruins went on the road and earned a 78-69 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs.

Three-point shooting was a decisive factor in the result. Belmont went 14-of-31 from beyond the arc, while Georgia was just 4-of-17.

The Bruins also boasted a balanced scoring attack, with four of their five starters scoring in double figures. Dylan Windler led the way with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Evan Bradds narrowly missed out on a double-double as well (15 points, nine rebounds).

J.J. Frazier's game-high 29 points weren't enough to advance Georgia in the NIT.

Central Florida 79, Colorado 74

The Central Florida Knights fought off a comeback attempt by the Colorado Buffaloes to pull off a narrow 79-74 win.

The Knights led by nine points with under a minute to go, but a three-pointer by Derrick White with 23 seconds remaining cut Colorado's deficit to three-points, 74-71. After two made free throws by B.J. Taylor, Xavier Johnson nailed another three-pointer for the Buffaloes to make it a two-point game, 76-74, inside the final 14 seconds.

But A.J. Davis sunk three free throws to preserve the victory for the home team.

Davis finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, and Taylor led the team with 26 points on 7-of-13 shooting.

Syracuse 90, UNC Greensboro 77

UNC Greensboro was unable to fulfill the wishes of many college basketball fans, falling 90-77 to Syracuse. The city of Greensboro was gracious in defeat:

Orange guard Andrew White III set a school record for most three-pointers in a season (108) Wednesday, surpassing the mark set by Gerry McNamara in 2004-05, per ESPN Stats & Info. White went 7-of-9 from beyond the arc en route to a 34-point performance.

Syracuse only got seven points off the bench, which didn't matter with White's big night. Tyler Lydon also posted a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Akron 78, Houston 75

Free-throw shooting played an outsized role in the Akron Zips' 78-75 win over the Houston Cougars.

The Zips attempted 30 free throws and connected on 23. The Cougars, meanwhile, were 14-of-17 from the charity stripe.

Late in the game, Akron sealed the victory from the free-throw line. Isaiah Johnson gave his team a 76-75 lead with 40 seconds remaining, and Noah Robotham was a perfect 4-of-4 down the stretch as the Zips looked to hold onto their advantage.

It was a record-setting win for the program. The Zips have 27 victories on the year, which are the most ever in a single season, according to Akron's official Twitter account.

TCU 66, Fresno State 59

For the first time in over a decade, the TCU Horned Frogs have 20 wins after they defeated the Fresno State Bulldogs 66-59.

Head coach Jamie Dixon has executed quite the turnaround in Fort Worth, Texas. A year after going 12-21, TCU is 20-15 after Wednesday—the most victories for the team since 2004-05.

The Horned Frogs came out on top despite leading scorer Vladimir Brodziansky only playing 18 minutes and scoring five points. Kenrich Willams picked up the slack, posting a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds).

Iowa 87, South Dakota 75

A double-double from Jordan Bohannon helped the Iowa Hawkeyes secure passage to the second round of the NIT. Bohannon scored 19 points and dished out 11 assists, offering Hawkeyes fans another taste of what is to come from the freshman guard. He also played 37 of the 40 minutes.

Fellow freshman Isaiah Moss had a good game as well (16 points, four rebounds), and Peter Jok was Iowa's leading scorer with 20 points. Tyler Cook was a perfect 8-of-8 from the floor.

Matt Mooney did his best to see the South Dakota Coyotes through to the next stage, but his 23 points were unable to overcome the Hawkeyes' hot shooting.

Illinois State 85, UC Irvine 71

On Monday, Illinois State Redbirds head coach Dan Muller made his plea to college basketball's major conferences to put his team on their schedule after the Redbirds missed out on the NCAA tournament:

Illinois State backed Muller up by beating the UC Irvine Anteaters 85-71.

Deontae Hawkins scored 22 points and was one of four Redbird starters with double figures in points. He also shot a perfect 6-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Illinois State had an efficient offensive night, making 52.5 percent of its field-goal attempts, including 52 percent of its long-range shots. 

UT Arlington 105, BYU 89

Three players scored at least 20 points for the UT Arlington Mavericks as they blitzed the BYU Cougars 105-89.

Kevin Hervey and Kaelon Wilson each scored 20 points, while Drew Charles was the standout performer, scoring 28 points. Erick Neal's 13 assists shouldn't go overlooked, either, as he orchestrated the Maverick offense.

BYU had little answer for UT Arlington's ball movement in general. Twenty-seven of the Mavericks' 42 made field goals came off assists. UT Arlington only turned the ball over nine times, as well, further highlighting how efficient the team was on the offensive end.

An updated NIT bracket is available on NCAA.com.