NIT Tournament 2018: Updated Bracket, Schedule and Quarterfinal Players to Watch

Half of the 2018 men's NIT Final Four is set, with Penn State and Mississippi State punching their tickets to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.

The remaining semifinal spots will be dispersed during Wednesday's two-game slate.

The fourth-seeded Nittany Lions opened the quarterfinals with an 85-80 defeat of second-seeded Marquette. Lamar Stevens matched his career-high with 30 points, while Tony Carr had his best scoring (25 points) and distributing (seven assists) performances of the tournament.

The Bulldogs, also a four seed, stomped second-seeded Louisville 79-56, winning all four quarters and basically sweeping the statistical categories. Mississippi State had four players reach double figures—including a 19-point, 14-rebound double-double from Quinndary Weatherspoon—and topped its average shooting rates from all three levels.

This round is already being defined by explosive individual efforts. If Wednesday's action follows the same script, these players to watch could be responsible.

Bracket

Be sure to check out NCAA.com for the full bracket.

Quarterfinals Schedule

Wednesday, March 21

No. 4 Western Kentucky at No. 2 Oklahoma State: 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2

No. 2 Utah at No. 1 Saint Mary's: 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Players To Watch

Jock Landale, Saint Mary's

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Senior center Jock Landale means more to the Gaels than just numbers. But the West Coast Conference's Player of the Year produces at such a high level that his statistics alone make him the most important player on the docket.

He's the top scorer among these four teams (21.3 points per game). And the top rebounder (10.1). And the star player for the highest-seeded squad still in the field.

The 6'11", 255-pounder plays a bruising, back-to-the-basket style that's rarely seen in this age of three-point bombing, unicorn bigs. But he's clearly making at work, as he finished the regular season ranked among the top 25 in points (20th), boards (17th) and field-goal shooting (64.0 percent, 22nd).

Saint Mary's has the most efficient offense in this tournament (seventh overall), and Landale is the driving force behind it.

"If he's [guarded] one-on-one straight up, he's going to score or get them in foul trouble," Gaels coach Randy Bennett told Jeremy Fuchs of Sports Illustrated. "People have to bring help, then we play off that. He makes other players better by how good he is in the post."

Justin Johnson, Western Kentucky

The fourth-seeded Hilltoppers have handled the NIT the same way they got through the regular season—following Justin Johnson's lead.

The All-Conference USA first-team forward was their top scorer in each of the first two rounds, tallying 42 combined points on 61.5 percent shooting. He held the team's rebounding lead in the opener (12) and tied for it in the second (seven).

At this point, that's par for the course.

He sits atop Western Kentucky's rankings in points (15.6 per game), rebounds (9.5) and three-point shooting (42.7 percent). He's second in three-point makes (44) and blocked shots (25).

The Hilltoppers are rarely successful when he's less than his best. His opportunities always yield volume production, but he's been a dramatically different shooter in their wins (54.5 percent overall, 47.3 outside) than their losses (45.2 and 31.0, respectively).

Justin Bibbins, Utah

Sub-6-footers who can hoop at this level are always worth a watch. Senior guard Justin Bibbins, a 5'8", 150-pound graduate transfer from Long Beach State, would be worth your viewing time at any size.

His lone season in the Pac-12 produced a spot on the all-conference first team. He routinely torched bigger defenders to the tune of 46.9 percent shooting and a blistering 45.4-percent accuracy route outside, while leading the Utes in points (14.8), assists (4.8) and steals (1.3).

The tournament hasn't been much different.

He opened it with his third consecutive outing of 20-plus points, then he followed with an efficient 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting (4-of-7 from three). He's averaging 20.3 points on 50.0 percent shooting (51.7 percent from three) in March.

Jeffrey Carroll, Oklahoma State

First-year coach Mike Boynton's Cowboys are built around balance. Six different players average more than eight points per game, and two more top five points a night.

But senior scoring guard Jeffrey Carroll operates as their focal point. He's been their high man in minutes (30.8) and points (15.6) throughout the season, and he's topped them in points during each of their tournament games (18 in the first round, 26 in the second).

Carroll isn't the most efficient player around, hitting only 41.1 percent of his field goals and 33.5 percent of his long-range looks. But he's capable of big nights, and Oklahoma State rarely wastes them. The Cowboys are 7-1 when he scores 20-plus points.

Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of KenPom.com, ESPN.com and NCAA.com.