For Jon Teitel’s interview with National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Famer Lute Olson – CLICK HERE
For Jon Teitel’s photo essay of Michigan State’s victory against LSU last Friday – CLICK HERE
In nine of the first eleven seasons of the CBI, the championship has been decided in three games (only VCU in 2010 and Loyola-Chicago in 2015 had swept the best-of-3 series). South Florida looked like they might be able to become the third team to get the sweep after coming back from a double-digit deficit at halftime and forcing overtime after not allowing DePaul to get a shot off in the closing seconds of regulation. LaQuincy Rideau hit a 3-point shot to give the Bulls their only lead in the first minute of overtime, but a shot by Paul Reed on the next possession put DePaul ahead for good and the Blue Demons won 100-96 to force a third and deciding game on Friday night. Reed had 28 points and 16 rebounds to lead DePaul; Max Strus also had 32 points for the Blue Demons.
(5) LIPSCOMB VS (2) TEXAS (7:00 PM, ESPN) – After Lipscomb took a halftime lead into their game with Wichita State on Tuesday night, they exchanged runs with Wichita in the 2nd half and ended up getting a 34-point performance from Garrison Matthews to vault the Bisons into their first ever appearance in the NIT Championship game. Texas has been on a roll in their past two games; they defeated TCU on Tuesday night without much difficulty. Shaka Smart will be looking for his second postseason crown as a head coach; he previously won the CBI in 2010 while coaching at VCU.
GREEN BAY AT MARSHALL (7:00 PM, WatchCIT.com) – This game, much like South Florida-DePaul last night, figures to be an offensive explosion on both ends with Sandy Cohen III leading the way for Green Bay and Jon Elmore leading the way for Marshall. Both teams had close victories in their semifinal games, but Green Bay needed a game-winner in overtime to beat Texas Southern.