The NIT is not the postseason tournament teams want to be in. But once there, it provides a great opportunity for teams to make something of the season, and for teams that will return a lot of players, it’s also a chance to pave the way for a big year the following year. On Tuesday night, we saw both of those in action with teams that will now head to New York.
The first game of the night saw Wichita State head to Indiana. The Shockers came in with two road wins already under their belt, having gone to Furman and Clemson and emerged from each with wins. As was widely expected, this was a challenging season for them given big personnel losses, the most striking being the early departure of Landry Shamet to the NBA. The Shockers went 19-14 in the regular season and 10-8 in the American Athletic Conference, and they were nowhere near the discussion for the NCAA Tournament.
While the Shockers will say goodbye to their top two scorers after this season, including one of the conference’s better players in Markis McDuffie, they will return everyone else and get transfer Teddy Allen eligible after they had hoped to get him this year. That means next season could be better, though replacing your top two scorers is never easy. This month will provide a chance to get players ready for next season, among other things.
Indiana made some charges at the Shockers in the second half, getting within a point twice, but Wichita State hit a three-pointer both times, and the Hoosiers eventually ran out of gas. This came after the Shockers kept it a two- or three-possession game for a while.
While the seniors had nice nights as McDuffie had 21 points and Samajae Haynes-Jones had 13 and six rebounds, freshman Dexter Dennis had 17 points and blocked six shots and emerging junior big man Jalen Echenique had 11 rebounds. The freshman backcourt trio of Dennis, Erik Stevenson and Jamarius Burton will have a lot to say in whether or not this team becomes an NCAA Tournament team again next season after some growing pains this season, and Echenique figures to be no small part of that up front as well.
The second game turned right after halftime, when TCU scored the first 16 points of the second half and never looked back as they knocked off visiting Creighton 71-58. Kouat Noi had himself a night with 25 points on 8-15 shooting, including 6-12 from deep, and he had seven rebounds as well. Creighton never got closer than eight points after the TCU run to start the second half.
TCU had designs on being in the NCAA Tournament this season, to be sure. Jamie Dixon’s third season at the helm had some promise early on, but they couldn’t win enough in the Big 12 to get there. Even so, it’s easy to forget that the Horned Frogs will bring back a lot of this team next season, though Alex Robinson and J.D. Miller won’t be easy to replace. Everyone else comes back, though, and when they move the ball the way they do at times, their offense is really good.
For now, TCU is certainly hoping to make the most of a season they hoped would end in the field of 68. But like Wichita State, they will head to New York getting some valuable experience for players who should return next year as well.
Side Dishes
The only other postseason tournament in action on Tuesday was the CIT, which had two second round games and a quarterfinal in which the home team took each game. In the second round, Hampton used a big second half to top Charleston Southern 73-67 and Green Bay ran away from Florida International 98-68. In the quarterfinal game, Marshall pulled away from Presbyterian 83-66.
Coaching news took over in a big way on Tuesday, with several moves happening and not all of them entirely expected. The most noteworthy is that Nebraska fired Tim Miles after seven seasons, a move that was not surprising, though athletic director Bill Moos was keeping everyone hanging for a couple of weeks. Now the attention turns toward Fred Hoiberg, who has been thought to be Miles’ successor.
Brigham Young will be looking for a coach as well, as Dave Rose announced his retirement on Tuesday after 14 years as the head coach at the school and 22 overall. A pancreatic cancer survivor, Rose had a great run at the school, especially up through 2015, when the Cougars made the NCAA Tournament in eight of nine years, but they have not made it since then and this year did not play in a postseason tournament.
The move that was more surprising was Arkansas firing Mike Anderson after eight seasons at the helm. A former Nolan Richardson assistant, it was thought he would be there for a while given the success he’s had, having reached the NCAA Tournament three times in four years before a difficult season that just completed after two senior starting guards graduated. Arkansas made the NIT this season without a senior on the roster alongside nine freshmen, so this move seemed a bit puzzling.
One coach who isn’t going anywhere for now is Iowa State head coach Steve Prohm, as he signed a contract extension that can keep him at the school through 2025. He was going to be linked to the opening at his alma mater, Alabama, but most figured he would be staying in Ames and on Tuesday that became official for the time being.
Other moves of note include Idaho State letting Bill Evans go after seven seasons at the helm, Howard head coach Kevin Nickelberry being ready to step aside after nine seasons at Howard, Mercer hiring Purdue assistant Greg Gary, Cal Poly planning to hire Cal State Fullerton assistant John Smith, UMKC being ready to hire Northwestern assistant Billy Donlon, and Troy planning to hire TCU assistant Scott Cross, who a year ago was perhaps the most puzzling dismissal when UT Arlington fired him. In the evening, news broke that the next head coach at Washington State will likely be San Francisco head coach Kyle Smith, who has won at least 20 games in each of his three seasons at the school after a solid six-year run at Columbia.
Transfer news picked up as well, with the most notable players moving on being injured Florida forward Keith Stone (graduate transfer), Iowa State sophomore big man Cameron Lard and Portland sophomore guard and leading scorer Marcus Shaver Jr. Also, UNLV guard Amauri Hardy has entered the transfer portal while awaiting their new head coach, and Vanderbilt junior forward Matt Ryan doing the same thing as the Commodores are in the process of finding their next head coach.
Tonight’s Menu
By the end of the night, we will know the four teams that will be in New York next week in the NIT, as well as one of the finalists in the CBI
- Lipscomb heads to NC State and Colorado goes to Texas for the two quarterfinal NIT games (9 p.m.)
- In the first CBI semifinal, DePaul hosts Coastal Carolina (8 p.m.)
