Under The Radar Postseason News, Notes and Highlighted Games – Tuesday, March 29

The final week of the season is upon us, and last night marked the beginning of both the CBI best-of-3 Championship Series and the debut of the Vegas 16, albeit with only 8 teams. Tonight, the CIT championship game will be played at Columbia between the Lions and the UC-Irvine Anteaters, and the semfinals of the NIT will also be staged at Madison Square Garden.

NIT Semifinals

(1) VALPARAISO VS. (2) BYU (7:00 PM, ESPN) – Although the Crusaders are technically the only Under-The-Radar team to make it to Madison Square Garden, they are the highest-seeded team remaining in the NIT field. They got off to a slow start against St. Mary’s last week, but were able to cruise to a somewhat decisive 60-44 win over the Gaels. Their semifinal opponent will be BYU; the Cougars got to this stage by defeating Creighton at home by a final score of 88-82.

(2) SAN DIEGO STATE VS. (4) GEORGE WASHINGTON (9:30 PM, ESPN) – If Valpo is not the favorite to win the NIT, it will likely be San Diego State as the team to beat in the Garden. The Aztecs defeated Georgia Tech 72-56 at Viejas last week; like Valpo and BYU, this will be the first time in the NIT that the Aztecs will play a game away from home. GW beat Florida 82-77 to get to the semifinals, but the Smith Center felt like Florida North at times in that game. The Colonials also got a win away from home in the NIT against Monmouth, but San Diego State will also be a step up in competition from their last 2 games.

CIT Championship

UC-IRVINE AT COLUMBIA (7:00 PM, CBS Sports Network) – As confirmed by our own Chad Sherwood, Columbia is playing for the Ivy League’s first postseason title since 1975; Princeton defeated Holy Cross, South Carolina, Oregon and Providence to win the NIT Championship that season. Columbia advanced to the championship game by defeating NJIT 80-65; Irvine showed once more their road warrior status with an easy 66-47 win at Coastal Carolina on Sunday night as well.

CBI Championship Series

In Game 1, Morehead State held serve in the lone game to be played in Morehead, Kentucky. The Eagles were led by Lyonell Gaines’ 27 points and 14 rebounds; they defeated Nevada 86-83 in a game that featured 13 lead changes and 16 ties. Tyron Criswell had 31 points to lead Nevada, but the Wolf Pack now get to finish the rest of their season at home with Game 2 on Wednesday night and a potential Game 3 on Friday night should the Wolf Pack win on Wednesday.

Vegas 16 Semifinals

OLD DOMINION VS. UC-SANTA BARBARA (9:00 PM, CBS Sports Network) – In the opener yesterday, Old Dominion defeated Tennessee Tech 75-59 thanks to 3 players who scored in double-figures for the Monarchs – Trey Freeman (18 pts), Aaron Bacote (16 pts) and Zoran Talley (14 pts). They will take on the UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos; they defeated Northern Illinois 70-63 despite trailing for the first 14 minutes of the 2nd half. Maxwell Kupchak hit a layup with 5:55 remaining to give the Gauchos the lead for good; Gabe Vincent and Sam Beeler led UCSB with 20 and 16 points, respectively.

OAKLAND VS. EAST TENNESSEE STATE (11:30 PM, CBS Sports Network) – If you’re looking for star power in the Vegas 16, look no further than Oakland’s Kay Felder and East Tennessee’s Ge’Laun Gwyn. Oakland advanced to the semifinals thanks to an easy 90-72 win over Towson; Louisiana Tech hung around with East Tennessee for the entire game but were unable to get any closer than 1 point (a 60-59 deficit in the 2nd half). Gwyn iced the game with 3 free throws in the final 15 seconds as the Buccaneers won 88-83.

COACHING CAROUSEL – THE LATEST

  • As expected last week, Rick Stansbury is officially the head coach at Western Kentucky following the resignation of Ray Harper.
  • Chris Beard parlayed his successful season at Arkansas-Little Rock into the head coaching position at UNLV; this came only days after Mick Cronin did a 180 and decided to remain at Cincinnati.
  • One familiar face will re-emerge in the coaching ranks; Herb Sendek will be the new head coach at Santa Clara.
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