There were only two games played last night that were outside the realm of the NCAA Tournament. Creighton and Memphis tipped off the second round of the NIT in Omaha – the Bluejays were led by 14 points from both Mitchell Ballock and Marcus Zegarowski as Creighton won 79-67. All 5 starters for the Bluejays scored in double figures; they will play the winner of tomorrow’s TCU-Nebraska game.
In the CIT, Drake hit a couple of free throws with 2 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime on the road at Southern Utah. The Thunderbirds outscored Drake 11-4 in overtime; Harrison Butler led Southern Utah with 21 points. They will learn their second round opponent as the CIT will unveil the second-round matchups later today.
(5) ARKANSAS AT (1) INDIANA (12:00 PM, ESPN) – Arkansas jumped out to an early lead against Providence and never trailed on the road in their first round victory. Indiana started their game against St. Francis-PA looking like they might be an early upset victim, but they blew their game open in the 2nd half to advance to today’s matchup. Both teams met in Fayetteville earlier in the season – the Hogs won that game by a point in the closing seconds.
(5) LIPSCOMB AT (1) UNC-GREENSBORO (2:00 PM, ESPN) – This could just as easily have been a First Four matchup when the brackets were announced back on Sunday. Lipscomb played like a team angry to be underseeded and won at Davidson; UNC-G beat Campbell in their opener without much trouble in the 2nd half. Wofford is the only team that has beaten UNC-G in the Greensboro Coliseum all season.
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL AT TEXAS STATE (7:00 PM, WatchCIT.com) – Texas State looked for much of the season like they were going to be a serious contender in the Sun Belt, but a bit of a late-season swoon consigned them to a #4 seed in the conference tournament and an eventual semifinal loss to Georgia State in the Sun Belt Tournament. Florida International had their best regular season since Richard Pitino was head coach back in 2013; the Panthers are making their first postseason appearance of any kind since their only NCAA Tournament appearance back in 1995.