Boy, oh boy.
What a quarterfinalist collection.
An Oklahoma State team with one of the best defenses in the country.
A Wisconsin team who just drew 10,000 for an NIT second round game.
An Oregon team facing the wither and disintegration of their entire conference and Bill Walton’s way of life.
A Utah Valley team showing millions across this nation that underdogs can still get somewhere.
A Cincinnati team who is about to have some much-needed floor maintenance complete.
A Vanderbilt team who defies the very concept of numbers through their disregard for the odds.
A UAB team who wants this badly enough to bench the face of its program in order to get past Morehead State.
And, of course, our new sentimental favorites: North Texas.
Here’s what happened yesterday, with plenty more on the quarterfinals tomorrow:
Wisconsin 75, Liberty 71
What happened:
I caught the last minute, the final attendance figure, and a text from my friend with a picture of the screen reading “LIB STARTING 5,” an ESPN abbreviation decision that must rattle at least some Liberty fans, deep down. From what I can tell? Chucky Hepburn doesn’t need a three-point line.
Wisconsin scored 75 despite registering only five assists and going only 1 of 15 from three, and if your guess is that they made free throws, you’re damn right: Wisconsin made its free throws. The game was decided by four, Wisconsin missed four free throws, Liberty missed six. Make five of those and you win, Lib. Instead, it’s the Badgers heading west.
What it means for the NIT:
At the moment it was completed, we didn’t know that Wisconsin would be playing Oregon in the quarterfinals. Now that we do, though, the big question is going to be whether Greg Gard might make the decision, in the event Bucky does beat the Ducks, to spend the weekend out west rather than fly back to the heartland only to turn right around for Las Vegas. It’s travel planning season, and I’m not talking about summer vacation.
One additional thought:
The attendance thing is a big deal. Midwesterners love basketball, guys. Indianapolis 2024 is going to be a great Final Four.
Oklahoma State 71, Eastern Washington 60
What happened:
Shooters shoot, but they don’t always make, and while Steele Venters hit the same number of three-point shots as Hepburn, he did not do the Hepburn part of eating his opponent alive on the free throw line. Two points for the star, and down went the Eagles.
This was another one I didn’t watch. Really, I only watched that minute of the Wisconsin game, the entirety of North Texas live and in person, and sporadic bits of the last half of the Utah Valley game. I will now consider us fully disclosed.
What it means for the NIT:
Oklahoma State gets another home game, and they’ll be favored if lines aren’t out already. Nothing comes easy in the NIT (like it did for, I don’t know, Alabama over the weekend in that lesser tournament), but it’s better to be favored than to not be favored. At the moment, Oklahoma State is a Final Four favorite.
One additional thought:
Cedric Coward almost got the single-double in this one, grabbing nine boards to go with only four points. We love the single-double. Or the non-points double-double. Any time double figures of a stat are being hit and that stat isn’t point, we love the state line.
UAB 77, Morehead State 59
What happened:
Jelly Walker’s final home game was not his best shooting night, though he did at least make one (I’m assuming this is Walker’s last season but if I’m wrong on that, just add “of the year” after “final home game”). Per our source in the crowd, Walker was even briefly sent to the bench after a particularly egregious attempt in the first half. Ty Brewer cleaned things up, though, and the Blazers cut short Morehead’s Cinderella run. Trey Jamison didn’t get a single-double, but he did have more rebounds than points while registering a double-double, so that was cool. KJ Buffen was quieter than the other night. The Blazers have some dudes.
What it means for the NIT:
Birmingham isn’t all that far from Nashville, which should amplify a crowd some Vandy fans are already hyping as a potential sellout. Great situation for the NIT.
One additional thought:
Are we sure Clemson was unmotivated and not just bad?
North Texas 75, Sam Houston State 55
What happened:
Whoa. North Texas can shoot.
I think the best way to describe this game is to say that with twelve minutes left, the Mean Green led 66 to 33. Qua Grant was good, but the rest of the Bearkats struggled to get good looks against the UNT defense, and Rubin Jones’s perfect five-for-five complimented Tylor Perry’s own six three-pointers. The team that needs to hit threes hit threes, though they did likely miss Abou Ousmane. I haven’t seen why he was out, but we’ll try to look into that before we preview the quarters.
What it means for the NIT:
North Texas is now the highest-rated team in the field on KenPom, though three of the teams remaining are between half a point per game in that system. Beat Oklahoma State, and there’s a good chance the Mean Green become the mathematical favorites.
One additional thought:
No hate for Sam Houston State from me. I’m a UNT guy now, owing to my experience in Denton, but I am not an SHSU hater. In basketball. In football it’s a different story. That championship was Mickey Mouse and you know it.
Oregon 68, UCF 54
What happened:
The most talented team in the field played…pretty well. Again, didn’t watch, so don’t know how much of this was UCF missing shots and how much was Oregon making UCF miss shots. UCF missed 25 threes. And they didn’t shoot many more than 25.
What it means for the NIT:
The Pac-12’s still in it in a tournament whose championship will be played in Las Vegas, theoretically Pac-12 territory.
One additional thought:
One thing to watch for with the Oregon/Wisconsin matchup is, again, travel. It’s only a two-day turnaround, and I doubt Wisconsin was waiting at the airport last night to see if they needed to fly to Eugene. They’re probably headed out there today, if they haven’t landed already, which isn’t all that wild but is very different from the Ducks, who’ve been in Eugene for more than a week, and who live there.
Utah Valley 81, Colorado 69
What happened:
It was closer than this final spread, but Utah Valley was the better team. Colorado’s been a thin crew for a little while now (not as long as it feels like, because so much happens every day this time of year that it is baffling that it’s only been eight days since Selection Sunday, but a little while now). Utah Valley is not a thin crew. They hit shots, they got good looks, they squeezed the life out of the Buffaloes, who did their best but have seemed like they’ve seen this coming.
What it means for the NIT:
Utah Valley gets a home game, and I haven’t seen odds but I’d guess they’re a narrow favorite, meaning our Final Four favorites are, currently: Oklahoma State, Oregon, Utah Valley, and then it’s really darn close between Vanderbilt and UAB but Vanderbilt doesn’t accept numbers and more Vanderbilt fans read these than UAB fans so let’s pander and say Vanderbilt.
One additional thought:
Utah Valley is a sneaky big mid-major, and they’re getting sneakily powerful. I feel like they’re going to add a football program in the next few years. Maybe spurred by this NIT.
