Another beautiful day of the NIT is done, and it was arguably the most exciting one yet.
Over in South Carolina, Wichita State pulled ahead of Clemson early and kept the foot on the pedal, upsetting the Tigers. In doing so, the Shockers fanned the flames of Gregg Marshall’s candidacy for the title of heir to Dave Odom’s NIT coaching throne.
Meanwhile, in Ft. Worth, similar flames rise, as Jamie Dixon’s Horned Frogs closed the night and closed the storybook on Nebraska as they closed out their second victory of the tournament, placing themselves just three wins away from their second NIT title in three years.
There was no shortage of drama in between. Here in Austin, Xavier took Texas to overtime, with the help of the following incident that ended the first half:
Texas: Takes a shot at the end of the shot clock with about two seconds remaining on the game clock.
Texas: Misses said shot.
Clock operator: Inexplicably stops the clock at 1.9 seconds.
Referee: Notices the clock stopped, allows Xavier to inbound from the baseline with 1.9 seconds remaining.
Xavier: Throws the ball the length of the court.
Clock operator: Starts the clock when the pass is released.
Xavier: Fails to score.
Referee: Notices the clock operator messed up again, instructs said clock operator to reset to 1.9 seconds, instructs Xavier to inbound from the baseline again.
Xavier: Throws the ball the length of the court.
Clock operator: Finally does their freaking job correctly.
Xavier: Scores
The rest of the game was, thankfully, executed much better than the chaos-loving sadist behind the clock handled those 1.9 seconds. There were big shots. Texas couldn’t pull away. The arena got loud, especially for one with an entirely empty upper deck and few fans anywhere beyond the baselines in the lower bowl. In the end, the Longhorns held off the Musketeers in overtime. Love for the NIT slowly spreads across the city.
In Raleigh, things didn’t go to overtime, but they came damned close, with Harvard silencing anyone who questioned their ability to win this tournament.
Of course, Harvard won’t win this tournament, because they lost the game, so the silence might be related to that, but what I’m trying to say is that Harvard gave tournament favorite NC State a run for their money.
In other words, well done, Harvard, and we hope to see you for a third straight year next year. NC State, I’m not sure if you’re the favorite anymore. Count me as a doubter.
Blessings to all as we enter the final night of the NIT’s second round. Remember—we don’t get a day off. The quarterfinals start tomorrow. But for tonight, let’s focus on Norfolk State’s Cinderella story, and on Colorado’s quest to bring the Pac-12 the NIT title it so desperately craves.
