After last night’s theatrics, we’re one step away from answering the question that has consumed our waking hours since last April:
Who will win the 2019 NIT?
Yes, over the course of four and a half hours yesterday evening, in the thick of New York, we learned Jamie Dixon, Gregg Marshall, and their respective programs will not be winning second NIT championships. Instead, the title comes down to two very different teams, from very different universities, located in cities that are very similar in terms of how much live country music you can consume while drinking domestic light beer at affordable prices.
Yes, from Nashville, Lipscomb has captivated the hearts of a nation. Garrison Mathews’ scoring prowess takes top billing, but he’s far from the only specialist on the Bisons, with Kenny Cooper’s assist numbers and Eli Pepper’s rebounding suggesting Lipscomb’s been taking notes from Henry Ford on how to maximize production. Coordinating this barrage of individualized excellence into a productive whole is steel-nerved Casey Alexander, a round-faced, bald, 46 year-old former point guard whose name can still be found in the record books at neighboring Belmont, from way back in their NAIA days.
The Atlantic Sun champions jumped out to a strong start last night with Mathews’ hot touch stoking the flames of an early lead. The Bisons couldn’t shake Wichita State, though, and a second-half surge by the Shockers left McDuffie, Haynes-Jones, Dennis & Co. ahead by eleven with only seven minutes to play.
But Lipscomb didn’t wilt. They came back. Slowly. Methodically. They grabbed defensive rebounds. They made a few shots. They held the line.
By the under-4:00 timeout, the Wichita State lead had been more than halved. With just over two minutes remaining, Cooper tied the game, making a pair of free throws. Then: Turnovers were exchanged. Pepper got a hand on a McDuffie three. McDuffie missed again. Mathews connected from deep. And with that, Lipscomb had taken the lead for good.
Wichita State, of course, leaves New York encouraged, at least compared to where they stood two months ago. KenPom doesn’t tell the full story, but the Shockers did rise from a ranking of 142nd on the site on Groundhog Day to 66th today, a massive improvement over the season’s final two months. And despite the graduations of McDuffie and Samajae Haynes-Jones, Wichita’s finest have a young core to work with as they attempt to end next season back in New York.
But Lipscomb doesn’t have to think about next season. Not today, anyway. They’ve earned the right to play in the season’s final meaningful game, excluding a potential Game 3 in the CBI Championship Series (I understand an exhibition tournament of sorts wraps up on Monday night). And who should they play?
The mighty Texas Longhorns.
Texas has been here before, but it was way back in 1978, before some of these players’ parents were even born (I’m guessing that’s not actually true, but it’s possible, and I’d hope you have better things to do with your time than fact-check my claims).
41 years is a long time. Longhorn fans are restless. When the school stepped up to get Shaka Smart at his peak demand, they didn’t do it with first-round exits in mind. They did it to win championships.
Tomorrow night, Texas gets its first crack at one of those.
To be fair, the Longhorns are a very good team. As my colleague Joe Stunardi has lamented (not sure why the lament but ok), all their metrics pointed towards an appearance in that other March-based tournament, aside from a .500 overall record. What I’m saying is, they, like Lipscomb, would wipe the floor with any number of teams in that other tournament, so tell me again which tournament’s better?
But I digress.
Tomorrow night will be the last game on the court for Dylan Osetkowski and Kerwin Roach. It’ll be the last game on the bench for injured NBA prospect Jaxson Hayes. But Texas has a bright future, and it showed yesterday, with freshman point guard Courtney Ramey dishing out eight assists, sophomore big man Jericho Sims pulling down eight boards, and the whole team conspiring to hold TCU to 28% shooting. After letting the Horned Frogs get the best of them twice in the regular season, the lads in orange weren’t going quietly, and they out-uglied Jamie Dixon’s men en route to the final.
Now, the thing you care about, dear reader:
With last night’s events, Moderateleigh Dickinson took the lead in our pool. But it’s impossible for that bracket to win, barring the cancellation of the championship, an event that would make us all losers.
Instead, it comes down to clfenwi (who has Lipscomb winning) and McDaddy (who has Texas winning). Best of luck to both. I’ll be in touch with the eventual champion once things are finalized in order to coordinate the delivery of the prize.
