CIT Game of the Day – Saturday, March 28, 2015: Canisius at NJIT

Posted on March 28, 2015 by Chad

Canisius at NJIT, 7:30 PM Eastern, watchcollegeinsider.com

Most sports fan are well aware that two spots in the Final Four will be decided tonight as Kentucky battles Notre Dame and Wisconsin battles Arizona for spots in Indianapolis next weekend.  What most people do not realize is that a third Final Four team will be decided tonight as well.  That Final Four team is in the CIT as Canisius travels to Newark, New Jersey to take on NJIT for the final spot in the CIT semifinals and a matchup Tuesday night against Northern Arizona.

Canisius enters tonight’s game at 18-14 on the season, including a home win over Dartmouth and a win at Bowling Green in their first two CIT games.  Jim Baron’s Golden Griffins finished the regular season strong, winning four out of five before falling in the MAAC quarterfinals to Monmouth.  They are led by Zach Lewis and Josiah Heath.  Lewis put up 20 points in the first round against Dartmouth while Heath scored 23 against Bowling Green.

The Golden Griffins will have their hands full tonight as they travel to what will be a packed Fleisher Center to battle our adopted team, the Team of the People, the NJIT Highlanders (20-11).  NJIT’s season has certainly been magical as the nation’s lone independent scored a huge road win at Michigan and a home win over Yale during the season.  They also won their first two CIT games, knocking off New Hampshire in the first round and beating Cleveland State in one of the most exciting games this season in the second round, with Ky Howard’s three with approximately 25 seconds left giving the Highlanders the win.  The magical story of NJIT will try to be continued tonight as they look to become one of only a very small handful of teams playing on the final day of March.

 

NCAA TOURNAMENT

-You know what’s great about this website??  We can give top billing to NJIT if it suits us to do so.  But, in the other tournament, there are a couple of games that are at least noteworthy.  Arizona and Wisconsin face off in a rematch from last year’s Elite Eight game, which was one of the most exciting in the tournament.  I love that match-up because of the contrasting styles, and think that we’ll see another great game tonight.

-All year long, I’ve said that Kentucky has struggled against teams that like to play half court, (ie Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Florida and LSU).  I also said that if they played a good defensive half court team like West Virginia, that I wouldn’t expect them to win.  After Thursday night, I’ve decided to stop talking.  Notre Dame is exactly the kind of team that, a week ago, I would have said was built to beat Kentucky.  I think the Irish can win, but it would probably surprise me less if they lost by thirty than won by one.

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NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: Friday, March 27th

Posted on March 27, 2015 by David Griggs

-We had four games last night, and three of them were great.  The one that wasn’t was the one that I thought West Virginia would win, and that did not happen in a very big way.

-#8 NC STATE VS #4 LOUISVILLE.  I hadn’t really been impressed with Louisville this year, but I was in their win against Northern Iowa.  I thought it was one of the best teams they’ve beaten, and one of the best games they’ve played, all year.  These two are both in the ACC, so they’ve played each other already with NC State winning at Louisville.  The Wolfpack are also coming off an impressive defensive performance and win against a very good Villanova team, so they are certainly up to the challenge.

-#7 MICHIGAN STATE VS #3 OKLHAOMA.  Michigan State has looked as good as anyone in the country these past few weeks, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they got all the way to the Final Four.  Oklahoma had to sweat out Dayton, but still came away with the win.  Michigan State took down a Virginia team that appeared to be as good as any of the #1 seeds.  That followed a strong showing in the Big Ten Tournament where they nearly took down Wisconsin.

-#5 UTAH VS #1 DUKE.  Duke is as good as anyone in the country.  Utah is good, but they’re not as good as anyone in the country and they’re probably not as good as Duke.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the Blue Devils won in a fashion to where people are changing the station before the game is over.

-#11 UCLA VS #2 GONZAGA.  The last time these two met in the Sweet Sixteen, it was epic.  This time, it may be an epic blowout for the Zags, although I’m not counting out the possibility that UCLA will win for the simple purpose of annoying me.  As I said yesterday, I do not feel they belonged in the field, and even if they win it all it won’t change my opinion.  All that aside, though, I think they’re in way over their heads today.

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CIT Game of the Day – Friday, March 27, 2015: Kent State at Northern Arizona

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Chad

Kent State at Northern Arizona, 10:00 PM Eastern, Local TV/Fox College Sports-Atlantic/ watchcollegeinsider.com

And then there were six.  After Evansville’s win last night, two of the four spots in the CIT Final Four have been set.  The third will be decided tonight in Flagstaff, Arizona as the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks host the Kent State Golden Flashes.

NAU enters tonight’s game at 21-14 on the season, including wins at Grand Canyon and at Sacramento State in their first two CIT games.  Quinton Upshur has scored 19 and 22 points in his first two CIT games and will be looking to lead his team again tonight.  If he gets enough help from the rest of his teammates, including Kris Yanku, Aaseem Dixon and Jordyn Martin (who had a season best 27 points in the win over Sacramento State), the Lumberjacks have a great chance to advance to the semifinal round.

Standing in NAU’s way is the MAC’s Kent State Golden Flashes.  Kent State enters tonight’s game at 23-11.  The Golden Flashes have already won twice on the road in the tournament, at Middle Tennessee and at Texas A&M-Corpus Cristi.  The Golden Flashes are led by Jimmy Hall who scored 20 and 23 points in his first two CIT games, and added 13 rebounds for the double-double against Corpus Christi.  Hall will need help from the likes of Kris Brewer and Devareaux Manley tonight if Kent State wants to continue its season at least one more game.  If Hall and his teammates can step up, picking up a third straight road win in the CIT is definitely a possibility.

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NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: Thursday, March 26th

Posted on March 26, 2015 by David Griggs

-#5 WEST VIRGINIA VS #1 KENTUCKY.  Okay, I’m not going to go so far to say that it would surprise me if Kentucky won, but if I had to pick up a straight up winner, I think I’d go with West Virginia.  The reason??  They look a lot like the kinds of teams Kentucky has struggled against.  They’re not an Arkansas type team that Kentucky would put away, but rather a tough defensive half court team that can actually shoot the ball.  They’re better than Ole Miss, Georgia, Florida, Texas A&M and the like that Kentucky has struggled against.  Kentucky may win.  They may win by a lot.  But, this is one of their toughest match ups of the season.

-#7 WICHITA STATE VS #3 NOTRE DAME.  Both teams got here by beating teams they rarely play, but that they should always play.  Notre Dame won an overtime thriller against a very good Butler team to get to a stage of the tournament they’re not used to getting to under Mike Brey.  Wichita State absolutely blew Kansas’s doors off in the second half in what had to be one of the most feel good wins in their program’s history.  I’m excited for this match up and think it’s a toss up.  Notre Dame won the ACC Tournament and has beaten some great teams this year, whereas Wichita State is probably a little undervalued.

-#4 NORTH CAROLINA VS #1 WISCONSIN.  I love how Wisconsin has been playing lately.  UNC has looked really good as well, and is coming off a big win against a pretty good Arkansas team, but as good as they are I just think Wisky is too tough.  They knocked off Arizona in the Elite Eight last year in one of the tournament’s most exciting games, and we could be headed for a rematch this year.

-#6 XAVIER VS #2 ARIZONA.  One of the storylines here is that Sean Miller used to be Xavier’s head coach and Chris Mack was his assistant.  Xavier has looked really good at times this year, and has played well since the start of the Big East Tournament, but Arizona has looked absolutely sensational.  Like I said, an Arizona v Wisky rematch would be exciting

 

OTHER BASKETBALL TIDBITS

-NJIT, our adopted team, and the Team of the People, has advanced to the CIT Quarterfinals with an exciting win over Cleveland State and will be playing at home, again, this Saturday night.

-The Big East, in its current format, has yet to win an NCAA Tournament game against a team seeded better than #10th.

-#1 seeds outside the Power Five are 0-3 in the Round of 32 the last three years.

-The NIT semifinals are set.  Old Dominion will face Stanford and Miami FL will face Temple.

-UCLA is in the Sweet Sixteen despite everyone saying they did not belong.  This does not change the fact that everyone was right.  They could win it all and it still does not justify their inclusion any more than a third place team in baseball being allowed to play in and win the World Series would justify their inclusion.  If anything, it makes it even more unfair because they’ve taken advantage of an opportunity they didn’t deserve in the first place.

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CIT Game of the Day – Thursday, March 26, 2015: Evansville at Louisiana-Lafayette

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Chad

Evansville at Louisiana-Lafayette, 8:30 PM Eastern, watchcollegeinsider.com

Three spots remain to be claimed in the CIT Final Four after UT-Martin knocked off Eastern Kentucky thanks to a three pointer with 3.3 seconds left last night.  The second of those spots goes to tonight’s winner of the contest between the Evansvile Purple Aces (21-12 on the season) and the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (22-13).  Evansville reached the quarterfinals thank to wins over Fort Wayne and Eastern Illinois, while Louisiana won at Incarnate Word and at Sam Houston State.  Tonight, the Ragin’ Cajuns get a home game against Evansville with a berth in the semifinals at stake.

Evansville was one of our picks to be a surprise contender in the Missouri Valley Conference heading into the season.  After going 14-19 last season, head coach Marty Simmons has done a great job reloading the program as they look for their 22nd win tonight.  The Purple Aces have look great so far in the CIT, blowing out their first two opponents.  However, tonight’s road test will be their toughest of the tournament so far.

The Ragin’ Cajuns have not been as dominant, having barely sneaked past Sam Houston State by one point last time out.  However, the Sun Belt Conference has certainly proven itself in the postseason so far this year.  Not only is Louisiana in the quarterfinals of the CIT, but the conference champions, Georgia State, made headlines with their win over Baylor in the round of 64 in the NCAA tournament followed by a hard-fought loss to Xavier.  Louisiana-Monroe has also had a great postseason so far, as the Warhawks are in the best-of-three CBI championship series against Loyola-Chicago, starting Monday night.  The Ragin’ Cajuns will look to ride their home court advantage this evening to the next round of the CIT.  With Eastern Kentucky now gone from the field, tonight’s winner will likely be the team to beat as the tournament advances.

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CIT Game of the Day – Wednesday, March 25, 2015: Tennessee-Martin at Eastern Kentucky

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Chad

Tennessee-Martin at Eastern Kentucky, 7:00 PM Eastern, watchcollegeinsider.com

The quarterfinal round of the CIT gets under way today as the Eastern Kentucky Colonels host the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks in a matchup of Ohio Valley Conference rivals.  Though both teams play in the OVC, they only faced each other once during the season, with EKU prevailing in Martin, TN by a 66-58 score back on January 8.  UT-Martin has advanced to the CIT quarterfinal round with wins over Northwestern State and South Carolina-Upstate, both on the road.  EKU, on the other hand, has ridden their home court into the quarterfinals, knocking off Norfolk State and High Point.

The Skyhawks will be looking for another strong effort from Deville Smith tonight.  Smith put up an amazing triple-double in his team’s first round win over Northwestern State, scoring 21 points while pulling down 12 rebounds and dishing out 11 assists.  If he performs anywhere close to that level tonight, Eastern Kentucky will be in trouble.  EKU is led by Corey Walden, who also had a very strong stat line in his team’s first round win over Norfolk State, scoring 22 points while pulling down 5 rebounds and handing out 8 assists.  Eric Stutz will also be a major factor for the Colonels after scoring 16 points and pulling down 10 rebounds last time out.  Whichever team prevails will advance to the CIT Final Four next Tuesday night with a shot at being one of only four teams that will end its season by cutting down the nets in celebration of a championship.

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