Under The Radar Postseason News, Notes and Highlighted Game – Thursday, March 24

Click here for Jon Teitel’s interview with Dominique Wilkins (named to the 2016 Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame)

6 games were played last night involving Under-The-Radar schools; one more game in the CIT will be played tonight between NJIT and Texas-Arlington. Recaps and the lone preview are listed below:

NIT

There were times when it did feel like a home game for Florida last night; lots of Gator fans happened to be in the District last night to watch the Florida-GW quarterfinal. It was a close game throughout, but Tyler Cavanaugh hit a 3-pointer with under a minute remaining to give the Colonials a 4-point lead; they would hang on to win 82-77. Cavanaugh led the way with 23 points last night; Kevin Larsen also had 19 points and 13 rebounds for GW as well.

Their opponent in the NIT semifinals next week will be San Diego State; the Aztecs defeated Georgia Tech 72-56. The Yellow Jackets trailed by only 4 points at the under-12 mark, but a 6-minute shooting drought was fatal for their chances of winning last night. Trey Kell led San Diego State with 18 points; 12 of which came from 3-point range.

CIT (click on the link for a live stream)

All 3 games in the CIT went down to the wire last night; Ball State had a chance to tie their game against Columbia in the closing seconds, but a pair of missed free throws were fatal for the Cardinals. Columbia ended up winning 69-67 in the friendly confines of New York City.

Sadly, this year’s Team of the People also missed a chance to hit a game-winning 3-point shot against Coastal Carolina with under a second remaining; the Chanticleers wound up winning 60-58. The Lopes actually led for most of the 2nd half, but Coastal was finally able to retake the lead with under a minute remaining in regulation.

However, there was one team that did hit a game-winner in the closing seconds; Mike Best hit a 10-footer with under 4 seconds remaining to give UC-Irvine a 67-66 win on the road at Louisiana-Lafayette last night. The Anteaters didn’t panic despite blowing a 7-point halftime lead; they will move on to the semifinals of the CIT with a 9:00 game Sunday night at Coastal Carolina (can be seen on CBS Sports Network).

As for tonight:

TEXAS-ARLINGTON AT NJIT (7:30 PM) – The only game being played tonight not involving the big boys will be played at NJIT’s Fleischer Center. Arlington got a bye through the second round into tonight’s game; NJIT defeated Boston University in their last game at home earlier this week thanks to a combined 51 points from Damon Lynn and Tim Coleman. Tonight’s winner will travel to Columbia to play in the first CIT semifinal played at 6:00 PM (also live on CBS Sports Network).

CBI

There would not be a 3rd straight comeback win for the Ohio Bobcats; Morehead State saw to that with a 77-72 win on the road in Athens, Ohio. Lyonell Gaines finished with a double-double (14 points, 13 rebounds) to lead the way for the Eagles. Their opponent in the CBI Championship Series will be the Nevada Wolf Pack; Cameron Oliver led Nevada with a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds. Game 1 of the best-of-3 series will be played on Monday in Morehead, KY at 8:30 PM and will be televised live on ESPNU.