NIT Tournament 2019: Bracket and Schedule for Semifinals in New York

Unlike the NCAA men's basketball tournament, the 2019 men's NIT experienced plenty of upsets in the first three rounds. 

The slew of upsets resulted in a No. 1, No. 2, No. 5 and No. 6 seed qualifying for the tournament's Final Four, which is held at Madison Square Garden in New York. 

The first semifinal matchup features a pair of teams who won three straight games on the road to reach this stage of the competition.

The second semifinal to be played Tuesday possesses a more intriguing storyline, as a pair of Big 12 teams from Texas will square off for the third time this season. 

To see how each of the final four teams got to Madison Square Garden, you can view the full bracket on NCAA.com.

NIT Semifinal Schedule

Tuesday, April 2

No. 5 Lipscomb vs. No. 6 Wichita State (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) 

No. 1 TCU vs. No. 2 Texas (9 p.m. ET, ESPN) 

Lipscomb, Wichita State Looking To Keep Dream Runs Alive

Before Wichita State moved to The American in 2017, it established itself as one of the most successful mid-major programs in the NCAA tournament. 

Gregg Marshall has plenty of experience leading the Shockers deep into postseason competitions, as they made the Final Four in 2013 and had back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in 2015 and 2016. 

This isn't the best team Marshall has had at Wichita State, but he's gotten the most out of his squad in the NIT, as the Shockers picked up road wins over Furman, Clemson and Indiana.

Wichita State is led by senior guard Markis McDuffie, who has 57 points in three NIT games, including the 21 points he put up in the quarterfinals against Indiana. 

McDuffie is expected to go head-to-head with Lipscomb's Garrison Mathews, who was one of the best mid-major players throughout the regular season. 

John Minchillo/Associated Press

Lipscomb's senior guard exploded for 44 points in Wednesday's win over NC State to put the Bisons into the NIT Final Four. 

In total, Mathews has 20 20-plus point performances, and he's produced five of them in the Atlantic Sun tournament and NIT. 

But Mathews isn't the only Lipscomb player capable of putting up big numbers in the scoring column, as the Bisons totaled 269 points in three NIT contests. 

In Mathews, Rob Marberry and Kenny Cooper, Lipscomb possesses a dangerous scoring trio that could cause trouble to the Wichita State defense. 

If the Shockers are able to at least limit the production of Lipscomb's scorers for long stretches, they can stop the Bisons from reaching the 70-point mark. 

In their last five losses, including the Atlantic Sun tournament final defeat to Liberty, Lipscomb failed to hit the 70-point mark. 

Texas, TCU Meet for 3rd Time This Season 

TCU faces the difficult task of trying to beat an opponent for the third time in a season in order to reach the NIT final. 

Jamie Dixon's Horned Frogs beat Texas by four points at home in January and completed the regular-season sweep with a 13-point win March 9 at the Erwin Center. 

Since their last meeting, the Longhorns and Horned Frogs have rectified their poor form to end the Big 12 campaign and earned trips to New York City. 

Chris Covatta/Getty Images

TCU went 3-7 in its last 10 games before the NIT, but it rebounded with a trio of commanding home victories over Sam Houston State, Nebraska and Creighton. 

Texas stumbled to the finish line in the Big 12, as it fell in five of its last six conference games, but it also benefited from three home wins over South Dakota State, Xavier and Colorado to punch its ticket to Madison Square Garden. 

If Texas avenges its pair of losses to TCU, it will do so without Jaxson Hayes, who was confirmed as out for the games in New York by Shaka Smart, per Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman. 

In the March meeting between the two sides, Hayes led the Longhorns with 19 points and seven rebounds. 

With Hayes out, the Horned Frogs can put more pressure on Dylan Osetkowski and take away Texas' interior threat. 

TCU should be able to take advantage of Hayes' absence on offense, as Kouat Noi and JD Miller come into Madison Square Garden off a game in which they combined for 40 points in the quarterfinal win over Creighton.

Texas is still capable of winning, especially if Kerwin Roach and Osetkowski get off to hot starts, but it will be harder defeating a team familiar with its strengths and weaknesses without one of its top players. 

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