LSU’s season isn’t over just yet.
After a winding road that took LSU men’s hoops from a disappointing non-conference run, to a surprising 9-9 SEC record and finally to an SEC Tournament-opening loss to Mississippi State, the Tigers will get a shot at the National Invitation Tournament.
With one of the craziest conference tournament weeks in NCAA men’s basketball history, in which several bids to the NCAA Tournament were stolen, the NIT figures to have a rich field of talented teams.
Several worthy teams on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament were ultimately left out of the field, leaving them to the NIT. Despite a handful of notable teams declining NIT invitations, this is one of the deepest groups of competitors in the NIT’s history.
That means a fierce competition is ahead, and LSU will be aiming to take advantage of the opportunity to continue its season and get postseason experience.
Who does LSU face in the first round?
LSU’s first matchup will be against North Texas on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The game will be played in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and broadcast on SEC Network.
North Texas is the defending NIT champion, having won it last year as a two-seed. Three starters from that team returned this year: guard Rubin Jones and forwards Aaron Scott and Moulaye Sissoko.
The Mean Green are led offensively by guard Jason Edwards, a community college transfer who leads them with 19.1 points per game. Edwards, who attempts a whopping 7.2 3-pointers per game, was the team’s lone all-conference recipient as a first team all-AAC selection.
North Texas is a team that plays at an extremely slow pace, not lighting up the scoreboard much (though it shoots 3-pointers at the 14th-best percentage in the nation). Its defense is its hallmark, ranking 40th in the nation in opponent field goal percentage.
LSU and North Texas met earlier in the season in November at the Charleston Classic, where LSU won 66-62 in a contest that was close throughout.
LSU won that initial matchup mostly because of its size advantage. North Texas’ tallest rotation player is 6-foot-9, and the Tigers feasted inside, with 36 points in the paint.
North Texas’ guard play stood out in that game, with Edwards, Jones and John Buggs III giving LSU trouble. Each are players who can make plays off the dribble and punish opponents from deep: Buggs has shot an incredible 47.2% on his 3-pointers this season.
The Mean Green kept popping open from beyond the arc, finishing with 12 made 3-pointers, helping to close the gap despite inferior shooting numbers offensively.
On top of the issues with perimeter defense, LSU allowed 14 offensive rebounds, many of which led to open threes. Both problems were ones that plagued LSU in the early portion of the season.
LSU is a much different team this time around. If it can prevent 3-pointers and keep North Texas off the boards, while taking advantage of its size advantage in the paint, this can be another win for the Tigers.
What does LSU’s path through the NIT look like?
LSU is the four-seed in its quadrant of the NIT. If it beats North Texas, it will move on to face the winner of the matchup between one-seed Seton Hall and St. Joseph’s (which will presumably be Seton Hall).
If St. Joseph’s wins that matchup, LSU will host its second-round matchup once again in the PMAC, which will take place either Saturday or Sunday night. If not, LSU will travel to Seton Hall.
In the quarterfinals, LSU could face 2-seed Princeton, 3-seed Providence, or one of the unseeded teams in Boston College and UNLV. If either of the latter two meets LSU in the quarterfinals, that game would also be in the PMAC.
After that, the semifinals and championship game would take place on April 2 and 4, respectively, in Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Who are the favorites to win the NIT?
The one-seeds in the four regions of the tournament are Seton Hall, Indiana State, Wake Forest and Villanova. Seton Hall and Indiana State were both among the first four out designated by the NCAA Tournament’s selection committee, meaning they barely missed out on the big dance.
Princeton, Ohio State, Cincinnati and Utah are the tournament’s 2-seeds. Each were in the conversation for NCAA Tournament at-large bids, with Princeton losing out on the Ivy League’s automatic bid with a semifinal loss.
Three-seeds Providence and Iowa, as well as unseeded Kansas State and USF, were also teams who pundits considered as having resumes worthy of NCAA Tournament consideration.
Several strong, mid-major teams are well-represented in the field, such as UC Irvine, Loyola Chicago and San Francisco.
With so many strong teams, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will emerge the champion.
Who declined NIT invitations?
Each year, several teams decline invitations to the NIT for a variety of reasons. Most do so because they see the NIT as below them–nothing more than a consolation for having missed their ultimate goal.
Others, however, see the NIT as an opportunity to give their players experience with postseason intensity, and generate momentum for their program.
This season, Oklahoma and Pittsburgh, who were both designated by the NCAA Tournament selection committee as first four out teams, withdrew themselves from NIT consideration. Ole Miss, St. John’s, Indiana, Memphis and Washington also withdrew.
