NIT Tournament 2017: Updated Bracket and Schedule for Semifinal Matchups

The men's National Invitation Tournament has not been short on drama this year, with numerous games going down to the wire and a litany of upsets occurring in every round.

The NIT is down to four teams, and semifinal play will take place on Tuesday in Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Here's a look at the NIT bracket, the latest schedule and picks for each game.

NIT Bracket (Quarterfinals Through Final)
Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals
No. 6 Georgia Tech 74
vs.
No. 5 Ole Miss 66	No. 6 Georgia Tech
	vs.
No. 8 CSU Bakersfield 80	No. 8 CSU Bakersfield
vs.
No. 6 Texas-Arlington 76		GT/CSUB winner
		vs.
No. 4 UCF 68		UCF/TCU winner
vs.
No. 2 Illinois 58	No. 4 UCF
	vs.
No. 4 TCU 86	No. 4 TCU
vs.
No. 6 Richmond 68
NCAA.com

NIT Schedule
Matchup	Round	Date	Time	Television
No. 8 CSU Bakersfield vs. No. 6 Georgia Tech	Semifinals	Tuesday, March 28	7 p.m. ET	ESPN
No. 4 UCF vs. No. 4 TCU	Semifinals	Tuesday, March 28	9 p.m. ET	ESPN
CSUB/GT winner vs. UCF/TCU winner	Final	Thursday, March 30	8 p.m. ET	ESPN
NCAA.com

 

No. 8 CSU Bakersfield vs. No. 6 Georgia Tech

CSUB needs to stop two Yellow Jackets if it is to win this game: freshman guard Josh Okogie and junior center Ben Lammers.

Okogie is probably one of the 10 best freshmen in the country. He averages 16.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game and has been dominating NIT play, scoring 26 against Ole Miss in the quarterfinals and 24 vs. Indiana in the first round.

Lammers swatted eight shots against the Rebels and averages 3.3 blocks per game on the season. He's a dynamic defensive force.

The Yellow Jackets have been inconsistent this season. On the plus side, they beat North Carolina, Florida State and Notre Dame. On the minus side, they lost by 53 points to Duke, by 29 points to Syracuse and by two points at home to NC State, which finished under .500 this season.

Ultimately, it's hard seeing CSUB being able to stop both Okogie and Lammers. The Roadrunners have faced (and beaten) tough competition in this tournament, most notably Sun Belt regular-season champion Texas-Arlington, but the Yellow Jackets will be too much to handle on Tuesday.

Pick: Georgia Tech

 

No. 4 UCF vs. No. 4 TCU

UCF's defense should be the difference in this contest, coupled with the fact that sophomore guard B.J. Taylor has been lighting it up on offense.

The Knights only allow 61.0 points per game, and that's a testament to 7'6" sophomore center Tacko Fall's fantastic defense down low. He blocks 2.5 shots per game and, naturally, affects plays even when the result doesn't show up in Fall's stat line (i.e. players avoid the paint or have their shots altered because of Fall).

Taylor is averaging 21.7 points per game in the NIT, including a 22-point effort at Illinois State. That was arguably his most impressive performance of the season, as he knocked down all 11 of his free throws in a 63-62 win, including two shots with one second left to seal the deal. Illinois State was previously undefeated at home before that matchup.

TCU has also beaten tough competition this year, taking down Kansas and Iowa State, and it has a triple-double threat in junior guard Kenrich Williams, who averages 10.9 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

Freshman guard Desmond Bane entered the starting lineup recently and has performed well, scoring 13 points in each of his last two games.

As good as the Horned Frogs have been lately, expect UCF to win a close, low-scoring game thanks to Fall's great defense and Taylor's clutch shooting.

Pick: UCF