While Creighton and Nebraska both lost their opening games in the NCAA Tournament and NIT respectively, at least one in-state team did end their season on a high note. Nebraska Wesleyan won the Division III Championship with a 78-72 victory against Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Cooper Cook led the Prairie Wolves with 16 points and was named Most Outstanding Player for his efforts.
Penn State also ended up victorious on St. Patrick’s Day with a 73-63 win at Notre Dame yesterday afternoon. Tony Carr led the Nittany Lions with 24 points; Josh Reaves also had 18 points and 9 rebounds. They will advance to the NIT quarterfinals and will go on the road against the winner of the Marquette-Oregon game.
San Diego also came back from a 9-point deficit at halftime to beat Portland State 67-64 in the 2nd round of the CIT. The Toreros were led by 16 points from both Tyler Williams and Olin Carter III.
(4) MISSISSIPPI STATE AT (1) BAYLOR (12:00 PM, ESPN). While Mississippi State is coming off of a close home win against Nebraska in the first round, Baylor breezed past Wagner 80-59 in the first round.
(3) OREGON AT (2) MARQUETTE (4:30 PM, ESPN2). Oregon needed a comeback to defeat Rider in their first round game last week; Marquette also had to survive a pesky Harvard squad in their opener as well. This game will also be played at Marquette’s cozy Al McGuire Arena.
(3) MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT (2) LOUISVILLE (6:30 PM, ESPN2). Despite one foot out the door en route to his next coaching stop at Ole Miss, Kermit Davis still has all of his focus for now on Middle Tennessee and their current NIT run. The Blue Raiders had little trouble against Vermont; Louisville was slower out of the gate against Northern Kentucky before ultimately pulling away after halftime.
-DRAKE AT NORTHERN COLORADO (5:00 PM, CBS Digital Network). The Bears of Northern Colorado were the last team to get a bye into the 2nd round of the CIT – they will play a Drake team that won against Abilene Christian 80-73 in their opening game on Monday (dubbed the Lou Henson Classic).