NIT picking

[GoBearcats31]

9 of the 16 first round NIT games are tonight, with the rest tomorrow https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball...ens-tournament

If UC wins tomorrow, they would next play either Saturday or Sunday -- opponent would be Bradley (where assistant Drew Adams came from) or Loyola (where former UC assistant Sean Dwyer is on staff...apparently Kyle Washington left Loyola for a position with Iona this season).

[bearcatbret]

NIT SHOWDOWN: Cincinnati to Battle San Francisco in Epic Home Opener | Fan Recap

[Lobot]

UC will host San Francisco. Date & time TBA. IN State #1 seed. All teams in the quad but USF are midwestern.

I case I missed someone else posting this , this game is at 9:00 ET on 3/20 on ESPN+

[regoarrarr]

Well one random commenter / blogger has us winning it all :-)

https://thebarkingcrow.com/nit-stus-2024-nit-bracket/

[sedz]

Well one random commenter / blogger has us winning it all :-)

https://thebarkingcrow.com/nit-stus-2024-nit-bracket/

Wow, a dedicated NIT blog! That's some serious sicko dedication to keep that going every year.

One of the selection show hosts picked us too (Tom Crean maybe?).

[GoBearcats31]

OSU holds off Cornell in Columbus.

Xavier falls to Georgia by 2 after trailing by 23. Terrible officiating late. X fails to get off a shot after inbounding under 2 seconds following a bunch of reviews.

This is March!

[bearcatbret]

Well one random commenter / blogger has us winning it all :-)

https://thebarkingcrow.com/nit-stus-2024-nit-bracket/

Not real accurate in his write-up but we will see how accurate his picks are. He almost got x correct.

[GoBearcats31]

UCF (USF) and Kansas State (@ Iowa) both lost last night

[bearcatbret]

With a few exceptions, many of Tuesday's games were around a 2-possession game.
Wagner 71 - Howard 68
x 76 - Georgia 78
Texas Southern 71 - Tarleton State 82
Boston College 62 - Providence 57
North Texas 84 - LSU 77
Cornell 83 - tosu 88
USF 83 - UCF 77
K State 82 - Iowa 91
Richmond 58 - Virginia Tech 74
Abilene Christian 73 - Texas A&M Corpus Christi 63
Minn 73 - Butler 72
Colorado State 67 - Virginia 42
UC Irvine 75 - Utah 84

[sedz]

San Francisco brings a top 100 offense and a top 50 defense into Fifth Third. They are a very efficient shooting team, converting over 55% effective field goals, #21 nationally. They make 57% of their shots inside the arc, including 68% at the rim. Only 22% of their shots come from midrange. But they are just an average offensive rebounding team and they don't get to the line much at all, with a free throw rate under 24% that is one of the 10 lowest in the country. Combined with the very lowest blocked shot rate in the country (only 1 of every 18 twos is blocked), it's clear they aren't looking to attack bigs at the rim, instead moving them out of the paint with misdirection or inverted sets.

Wes described big man Jonathan Mogbo as a point forward, and the stats agree as he leads the team in assist rate. Mogbo is by far their best player, excelling as a scorer (63% shooter), rebounder (higher rate than Aziz), passer (higher assist rate than our PGs), ballhandler, and defender. He's a great all around player with a 10.5 box plus minus, nearly double anyone on our roster. The rest of the team is made up of more one dimensional players, but they can all shoot the three at 33% or better. Containing Mogbo without doubling off the shooters will be the key to slowing them down.

Defensively, San Francisco allow opponents to rebound only 24% of their misses, a top 15 rate nationally. And they are top 40 in forcing turnovers, as opponents cough it up on nearly 20% of possessions. But they foul a lot and allow over 34% from three. San Francisco is a big team that will match our size everywhere but center, running out a 6'9, 6'8, 6'8, 6'4, 6'1 lineup.

The Dons don't have any Q1 wins, but they had chances. They built a second half lead at Gonzaga and held multi-possession leads in the last 5 minutes away from home against tournament teams St Marys, Utah St, and Grand Canyon. This is a solid team that is capable of beating good teams on the road, with similar efficiency numbers as UCF and Kansas St.

[bearcatbret]

Oklahoma only given 15-20 minutes to decide on NIT. Porter Moser Says Oklahoma Was Given 15 Minutes to Decide on Playing in the NIT (heartlandcollegesports.com)

[Lobot]

ESPN write up. They don't seem to think SF has much of a chance here. Also note on here that they lost 3 out of their last 5.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...sco-cincinnati

[Gmann]

Oklahoma only given 15-20 minutes to decide on NIT. Porter Moser Says Oklahoma Was Given 15 Minutes to Decide on Playing in the NIT (heartlandcollegesports.com)

Being a bubble I think he had time to consider whether he wanted to play in the NIT or not if not making the NCAA. If you don't want to play in NIT just say so. Don't make excuses.

[GoBearcats31]

UC is a 7.5 point favorite tonight

[leo from jersey]

ESPN rwite up. They don't seem to think SF has much of a chance here. Also note on here that they lost 3 out of their last 5.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...sco-cincinnati

still have to decide it on the court. Too many things can happen, but I sure want the Cats to win and advance.