Turning down an NIT invite has become a popular trend. After missing the cut for the NCAA tournament this year 17 teams declined an NIT invite. Pittsburg, St. John’s, Oklahoma, Memphis, Ole Miss, Indiana, Syracuse, USC, UCLA, Washington, Arizona State, Stanford, California, Florida State, Maryland, St. Bonaventure, Oregon State, all passed and decided to end the season rather than participate.After the devastation of missing the NCAA tournament, Indiana St center Robbie Avila described the team as “motivated as ever” to…

“Do you think Purdue can win?” my father asked me Sunday night. To which I bumbled around a response somewhere between “it’s certainly possible” and “but not realistically”. A text to Elliot on Monday during the 2nd half: “Why does Purdue look like they planned for 15 minutes of basketball?”, Elliot: “Looking lost”. Indeed, after a great first 15 minutes for Zach Edey that saw the big man skipping down the court and full of energy going for 16 of…

Three (and a half) great games were the reward for those of us that tuned into the Elite 8 double-heads on Saturday/Sunday.Alabama makes its first Final Four after surviving an excellent Clemson team. Grant Nelson hit the bench early for the Tide after 2 fouls and that severely limited his impact on the floor after closing out UNC in the Sweet 16. He finished with 8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 4 turnovers in 21 minutes. Sears was a…

#1 UConn was up 9 at the half but doubled up on San Diego State in the second to win 82-52. Clingan was pushed out of the paint for a good chunk of the game finishing with 8 points and 8 rebounds. The Huskies were 10/26 from three (38.5) to help put the game away. They held SDSU to 36% shooting and 22% from three. LeDee was 8/18 from the field with 18 points and 8 rebounds and was uncomfortable…

Whelp, the round of 32 killed our Cinderella’s. Only #11 NC State and #6 Clemson remain as lower seeds.All #1 & #2 seeds advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Six of sixteen games were outright thrashings. Three! Went to OT!#3 Creighton out lasted #11 Oregon 86-73 in 2OT 86-73. The Ducks just ran out of gas, specifically N’Faly Dante who had 28 points, 20 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks and Jermaine Couisnard who had 32 points, 8 rebounds, and…

Day two brought three more double-digit seed wins and more action! The remaining #1 & #2 seeds advanced to the round of 32.#13 Yale came back from a nine-point halftime deficit to beat #4 Auburn 78-76. Chad Baker-Mazara was ejected 3 minutes into the game for Auburn after sliding an elbow across a players head. John Broome had 9 points and 3 rebounds already by that point on his way to 24 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and…

Oakland played the role of spoiler on opening day of the NCAA 64. The veteran #14 seed shredded a young #3 Kentucky squad that looked like Cal/UK of years past. Early in his Kentucky career Cali cleaned up in recruiting and often featured a lineup of almost all freshman. The late 2010’s saw Coach Krzyzewski at Duke, Roy Williams at UNC, Bill Self at Kansas, and even a toe dip by veterans like Tom Izzo and Mark Few into the…