CIT Game of the Day – Saturday, March 21, 2015: Northern Arizona at Sacramento State

Northern Arizona at Sacramento State, 10:00 PM Eastern, watchcollegeinsider.com

This season has brought up some great turnaround stories as programs that have never even sniffed the postseason have risen up and become contenders.  Here at HOOPS HD, we have been chronicling the amazing season that the NJIT Highlanders have had.  We also saw UC-Davis put together its best season ever to win the Big West regular season crown and advance to the NIT.  North Florida won the Atlantic Sun regular season and conference tournament en route to the Ospreys’ first ever NCAA tournament berth.  And in the Big Sky, the Sacramento State Hornets, who had never had a winning season before this one, have already notched 21 victories and just narrowly missed out on winning the regular season title.

Tonight, Sacramento State (21-11) squares off against conference rival Northern Arizona (20-14) in the CIT Second Round.  The Hornets and Lumberjacks played once during the regular season, in one of the most heart-breaking losses in Sacramento State history.  The game took place on the final day of the regular season, and NAU pulled out a tough, hard-fought 70-68 victory.  With a win, the Hornets would have locked up the top seed in the Big Sky and the right to host the conference tournament.  Instead, the loss dropped the Hornets to the #3 seed and gave Montana the top spot.  While Sac State bounced back to win a quarterfinal over Portland State, the Hornets fell to eventual champions Eastern Washington in the semifinals by 8 points.  They did rebound from that loss to win their first round CIT game at Portland and have a chance tonight to advance to the quarterfinal round.

Northern Arizona also fell in the Big Sky semifinal round, losing to Montana in a tough, close game by a final score of 61-59.  As with their conference foe, the Lumberjacks were able to bounce back in their first round CIT game, winning by 5 points at Grand Canyon.  Tonight, they will be in Sacramento where the Hornets will certainly be looking for payback for the regular season game.  Given that Sacramento State has one of the smallest home court venues in the country, the crowd has a chance to be loud and electric — meaning that an NAU win will require one of the Lumberjacks’ best efforts of the season.  They certainly have a chance though, as this team did win at St. Mary’s back in December in one of the bigger “Under the Radar” upsets of the season.

NOTE:  We will also have a championship decided today — Augustana takes on Wisconsin-Stevens Points (3:00 PM Eastern, CBS Sports Network) for the Division III championship!