NIT 2017: Final Quarterfinals Scores, Updated Bracket and Semifinals Schedule
The tickets to Madison Square Garden have been punched.
A day after the TCU Horned Frogs and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets secured their spots, the remaining two NIT quarterfinal matchups went down. The Illinois Fighting Illini, the lone remaining top-three seed in the tournament, were slated to go head-to-head against the fourth-seeded UFC Knights in the opener Wednesday night at the CFE Arena.
The CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners, the lone remaining No. 8 seed, looked to make their Cinderella run continue with a win over sixth-seeded UT Arlington Mavericks at College Park Center. Those two quarterfinalists were perhaps the unlikeliest remaining teams in the field.
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Here is a look at how things played out.
Semifinal Schedule
| Georgia Tech vs. CSU Bakersfield | Tuesday, March 28 | TBD |
| UCF vs. TCU | Tuesday, March 28 | TBD |
Updated NIT bracket available at NCAA.com.
Wednesday Results
UCF 68, Illinois 58
Four UCF starters scored in double figures, as the Knights earned a 68-58 win over Illinois on the back of a strong defensive first half.
The Illini were held to just 19 first-half points, clanging threes off the side of the rim and not doing much better inside the paint. Malcolm Hill, who had a game-high 29 points, was the only Illini player to make at least half his shots. No other member of the team scored more than nine, and Illinois finished the game shooting 30.8 percent from the field.
Contrast that to UCF, which had an all-around scoring effort led by B.J. Taylor's 17 points. A.J. Davis and Matt Williams each finished with 16 points, while Tacko Fall had a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double to round out the double-digit scorers.
Davis added nine rebounds and tied a team high with three assists for a solid all-around effort. The UCF bench finished with just five total points, but the team's defensive effort was enough to keep scoring low and allow it to rely on its starters.
Fall also finished with three blocks.
The Knights will play another No. 4 seed, TCU, in the semis.
CSU Bakersfield 80, UT Arlington 76
The Cinderella story of the NIT is heading to MSG. Five Roadrunners scored in double figures, led by big performances from Shon Briggs and Damiyne Durham off the bench, as Bakersfield held on for an 80-76 win over UT Arlington.
Briggs scored a team-high 19 points, while Durham knocked down five threes on his way to an 18-point, eight-rebound outing. Bakersfield knocked down 52.6 percent of its threes and got to the free-throw line 34 times, helping atone for UT Arlington's 16 offensive rebounds and 17 forced turnovers.
The Roadrunners did their damage in the first half, going into the halftime break with a 45-29 lead. They led by as many as 20 points in the second half, but Arlington closed the gap to single digits with just under six minutes remaining and closed the gap to as few as two points in the waning seconds.
Dedrick Basile hit a pair of free throws with five seconds remaining to put Bakersfield back ahead by two possessions and salt the game away for good. Basile finished with 14 points. Matt Smith (11 points) and Jaylin Airington (10 points) rounded out double-digit scoring for Bakersfield.
Erick Neal scored a game-high 22 points for Arlington, and Kevin Hervey added 15.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
