Yesterday afternoon, there were a pair of NIT games on tap. Romeo Langford missed his second straight game for Indiana due to a back injury, but the Hoosiers ended up winning a back-and-forth game with Arkansas. The Hoosiers trailed by as many as 9 points in the first half, but came back and were led by Devonte Green’s 18 points and 11 rebounds in their 63-60 win against the Hogs.
Lipscomb had a small but comfortable lead halfway through their game against UNC-Greensboro on the road, but the Bisons outscored the Spartans by 19 points in the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half to turn the game into a complete runaway. Rob Marberry (24 points) and Garrison Matthews (21 points) led the two-headed Lipscomb monster to victory and will either travel to NC State or host Harvard in the NIT quarterfinals.
In the lone CIT game yesterday, Florida International made their first appearance in a postseason game since the 1995 NCAA Tournament and beat Texas State 87-81 thanks to a pair of 29-point performances from Devon Andrews and Brian Beard Jr.
On the coaching carousel front, the latest word now is that Ron Hunter is expected to be announced as the next head coach at Tulane. At Georgia State, he has made the NCAA Tournament three times in the last 5 years – this included a monumental upset of Baylor in the first round of the 2015 Tournament in Jacksonville that year.
(6) WICHITA STATE AT (2) CLEMSON (2:00 PM, ESPN) – Despite being one of the last at-large teams in the NIT field, Wichita State came out motivated in their opener and beat Furman on the road after pulling away late in that game. Clemson survived a potential upset bid against Wright State to earn at least one more home postseason game today.
(3) XAVIER AT (2) TEXAS (4:00 PM, ESPN) – Both teams took a couple of different approaches to victory in the first round – Texas got off to a fast start against South Dakota State and had to hang on for dear life for a win, whereas Xavier got off to a slow start against Toledo before turning on the jets in their 2nd half. The winner of this game is assured of hosting an NIT quarterfinal matchup either on Tuesday or Wednesday.
(6) HARVARD AT (2) NC STATE (7:30 PM, ESPNU) – Harvard won a close game at Georgetown in their opener; they go on the road to play an NC State team that also had to survive a potential upset bid against Hofstra in the first round. This game will also be played on campus at historic Reynolds Coliseum.
(4) NEBRASKA AT (1) TCU (9:30 PM, ESPNU) – TCU is looking for their 2nd NIT title in three seasons – they took the first step with a win at home against Sam Houston State in the first round. Nebraska held off a late run from Butler to advance to the 2nd round; the winner of this game will play Creighton in the NIT quarterfinals.
PRESBYTERIAN AT ROBERT MORRIS (1:00 PM, WatchCIT.com) – This will be the first of five second-round games in the CIT; it was announced on Saturday that Louisiana-Monroe, Marshall and NJIT all get byes into the quarterfinal round. As for today’s game, Robert Morris will be looking to build on the momentum they gained after coming from behind to beat Cornell in overtime last week. Presbyterian beat Seattle on the road last Wednesday, but will have to hit the road for a second straight game in the CIT.