NIT Championship 2011: Wichita State Downs Alabama 66-57 To Capture Title

The Wichita State Shockers caught fire down the stretch, turning a close 2011 NIT final into a blowout with minutes left. Wichita State won 66-57, but the Alabama Crimson Tide trailed by only four points with about five minutes left. That’s a lot of scoring in the closing minutes, with many of those points coming on threes. The Tide had a chance to pull within plausible striking distance with about a minute left, but Chris Hines bricked a dunk.

This is Wichita State men’s basketball’s first national postseason tournament victory. There will be no “SEC!” chants in Manhattan tonight ... no, you’re right, there probably still will be.

For more on this game, Bama fans should visit Roll Bama Roll and Wichita State fans should head to Mid Major Madness.

From 32 teams to two, the 2011 NIT is at its championship game. On Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, the Alabama Crimson Tide and Wichita State Shockers battle for the NIT Championship after surviving four games over the past two-plus weeks. On Tuesday night, each secured a berth in the NIT Finals, but did so in completely different ways.

Wichita State took the chance to play a power conference team on national television and ran with it, blowing the doors off the Washington State Cougars in the evening’s first matchup. The Shockers were in charge the whole way, cruising to a 75-44 win over the Cougars. Wichita State made its way to Madison Square Garden with wins over Nebraska, No. 1 seed Virginia Tech, College of Charleston and No. 2 seed Washington State.

For more on the Buffaloes, check out SB Nation’s Ralphie Report. To connect with Alabama fans, visit Roll Bama Roll.

Tuesday, March 29th:

No. 4 Wichita State has a chance to complete its 2011 NIT Tournament run with a championship. Blowing away No. 2 Washington State 75-44 Tuesday night, the Shockers set up a meeting with either No. 1 Colorado or No. 1 Alabama, two schools begrudgingly playing in the tournament after being snubbed from March Madness in favor of VCU. Yeah, what have those guys gone on to do, anyway?

Previously suspended forward DeAngelo Casto led the Cougars with nine points and five rebounds, but that’s about the only bright spot for WSU. Garrett Stutz blew up for 24 points and 13 boards for Wichita State and helped hold the Cougars to under 30 percent shooting from the floor.

Washington State will head to New York City for the NIT semifinals, after the Cougars outlasted Northwestern Wednesday night in Pullman, Washington. Klay Thompson scored 12 of his 17 points after halftime, including a key jumper in overtime that propelled the Cougars.

For Northwestern, Michael Thompson led the way with 20 points, but the team finished just 10-38 from three point range. Thompson missed two open three pointers down the stretch in overtime, and ultimately, that was the difference. Washington State won, 69-66.

For more on Alabama, visit Roll Bama Roll while Miami fans should visit The 7th Floor.

Here’s the updated look at the NIT bracket, and the schedule for the remaining games:

The Kent State Golden Flashes had been playing the role of spoiler over the first two rounds of the 2011 NIT bracket. But on Tuesday, Kent State’s dream run came to an end at the hands of No. 1 seed Colorado in Boulder. The Flashes gave the Buffaloes all they could handle, but in the end it was Colorado pulling away for an 80-74 win and trip to Madison Square Garden for the 2011 NIT semifinals.

Alec Burks had a double-double for Colorado, finishing with a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Justin Greene led the way for Kent State with 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

While the 2011 NCAA Tournament waits to begin play with its final 16 teams on Thursday, the NIT tournament bracket is already down to eight schools as the quarterfinal field is set. The final eight action begins on Tuesday night with just one game: No. 7 Kent State -- the highest remaining seed -- taking on No. 1 Colorado at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. Below is the full schedule and TV information for what remains of the 2011 NIT bracket.

Tuesday:

Washington State opened with a hot start from the field, taking an early 9-0 lead thanks to cold shooting from the Cowboys. Oklahoma State struggled from behind the three-point line the entire game, finishing just 4-for-19 on the night.

Miami overcame a six point halftime deficit to capture a 81-72 victory over the Missouri State Bears. The Hurricanes trailed 32-26 at the half before erupting for 55 second half points. They outscored the Bears by 15 points after halftime cruising home to a nine-point lead.

Durand Scott scored 20 points to lead Miami while Adrian Thomas added 16. Miami capitalized on its opportunities shooting 50% from the field while converting 21-24 attempts at the free throw line.

The 2011 NIT Tournament continues action on Monday night, with three more games in prime time, the final games of the NIT’s second round, and another round of tests for the tournament favorites.

So far, two top seeds in the 2011 NIT Tournament have already been ousted, as Virginia Tech and Boston College both fell in second round games to Wichita State and Northwestern. Monday night, Alabama hopes to avoid a similar fate vs. New Mexico. Meanwhile, Miami hopes to survive as well, as they’ll face Missouri State at home.

Two March Madness-aggrieved No. 1 seeds are now out of the 2011 NIT Tournament, with Virginia Tech joining Boston College by losing 79-76 to No. 4 Wichita State in overtime. Malcolm Delaney scored an insufficient 30 points as the Hokies shot 34 free throws to Wichita State’s 12. Blacksburg home-cookin’ came up short today, friends.

In the day’s only other NIT action, No. 7 Kent State upset No. 6 Fairfield, 72-68. Randal Holt led the Golden Flashes with 22 points and three steals.

The first round of the NIT basketball tournament came to a close on Wednesday night in an upset-free day. Each of the higher seeds -- even the No. 4 seeds facing teams that were, more or less, equal -- brought home wins to advance to the second round of the bracket, set to be played next week. Colorado, still stinging from an NCAA Tournament snub, highlighted the action, taking its frustration out on Texas Southern in a 14-point win.

Washington State survived an up-and-down game, jumping out to an early lead, nearly coughing it up and6 recovering to pull away in an 85-74 win over Long Beach State. Pac-10 mate California made it a future Pac-12 trifecta in the evening games with a 77-74 win over Mississippi.

No, that score is not a misprint: Wichita State really did club Nebraska by 27 points in the opening round of the NIT, the biggest win by any team in the consolation tourney so far. In fact, much of the Wednesday action so far has featured blowouts, including Miami (FL) shellacking nearby Florida Atlantic by an also-impressive 23-point margin.

And barring Colorado coughing up a 15-point halftime lead against Texas Southern, it looks like all the No. 1 seeds will breeze through the first round. Virginia Tech polished off Bethune-Cookman by 25 points. So unless you’re talking margins, we haven’t seen any major surprise so far on the second night of the tournament.

Alabama, the first of three spurned NCAA Tournament bubble teams to play their 2011 NIT Tournament opener, took it out on Coastal Carolina, winning by a 68-44 score. Senario Hillman and JaMychal Green combined for 20 points and 17 rebounds. The Tide will move on to play the winner of Tuesday night’s New Mexico-UTEP game.

Defending champs Dayton were knocked out by Charleston, 94-84, and the March Madness hopefuls of Harvard saw their season end at the hands of Oklahoma State, 71-54. No. 2 seed Vermont struggled to put away Cleveland State, 63-60.

While debate will rage over the March Madness 2011 Bracket for several days, the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) will select 32 teams who missed out on the NCAA Tournament. There are already 14 automatic qualifiers for the tournament and 18 at-large selection in the 74th edition of the postseason tournament.

Automatic Bids: St. Mary’s, Missouri State, Long Beach State, Kent State, College of Charleston, Fairfield, Coastal Carolina, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Murray State, Vermont, McNeese State, Florida Atlantic, Bethune-Cookman, Texas Southern