For the 10th time in 12 years, the College Basketball Invitational is headed to a deciding third game in its championship series.
Even as it unquestionably sits well below the NCAA Tournament and even the NIT in college basketball’s postseason pecking order, the CBI has carved a nice little niche with its unique best-of-three championship round. The final series has frequently played in front of stoked crowds (Nevada and Morehead State played three excellent games in 2016), has sometimes served as a springboard to great things a year or two after, and generally has provided better theater than it gets credit for.
This year’s final round is going three games again this year after DePaul outlasted South Florida 100-96 in overtime Wednesday night to even the teams’ series at 1-1. It all will come down to one winner-take-all game now on Friday, with the Blue Demons hosting again in Chicago and looking for their first postseason title since winning the 1945 NIT crown.
Wednesday night’s game featured a bunch of huge individual performances. DePaul’s Max Strus scored 32 and Paul Reed added 28 points plus 16 rebounds. On the other side, South Florida’s Laquincy Rideau scored 35 and added eight assists and four steals, while Alexis Yetna added 26 points and 13 rebounds, making 11 of 12 from the field.
The Bulls came back from a 15-point deficit early in the second half, but in the end turnovers were their undoing. USF turned it over 19 times, seven more than DePaul, and the Blue Demons turned them into 24 points.
It was a lot of fun (Kevin Sweeney of CBBCentral.com was there and covered the full story well) and the second straight barnburner between these two teams. South Florida won the opener 63-61 on a David Collins shot in the final seconds, playing much more at its preferred pace. This one was more to the Blue Demons’ liking-a Big East-like 82-82 at the end of regulation, before a high-scoring OT period too.
A title for either team would be a fitting cap on noted improvement this season. South Florida has been one of the most improved teams in the country, going from 10 wins to 23 and competing solidly in the American Athletic Conference in just the second year under Brian Gregroy. DePaul also has moved up from 11 wins to 19, and though there is still work to do, the Blue Demons’ seven Big East wins were their most since 2007, when they made the NIT, their last postseason trip of any kind.
History also says it’s possible, too, that greater things are ahead for whoever wins Friday, whether it be next year or in the near future. While some CBI winners never built on their success, VCU won the 2010 CBI; a year later it was in the Final Four. Loyola Chicago and Nevada won back-to-back in 2015 and 2016; in 2018 both were meeting in a terrific Sweet 16 game in the NCAA tourney, and the Ramblers of course moved on all the way to the Final Four.
Side Dishes:
- Two more schools filled coaching vacancies Wednesday. Fairfield officially hired Jay Young, an assistant at Rutgers and a longtime aide Steve Pikiell. Young is a Massachusetts native and has been a head coach in Connecticut before at NCAA Division II New Haven from 2000-05, before joining Pikiell first at Stony Brook and later at Rutgers. Also, William & Mary decided on George Mason assistant Dane Fischer to take over after its inexplicable firing of Tony Shaver. Now Fischer goes about the work of trying to keep intact a team that was originally set to return all five starters but currently has six players exploring their transfer or professional options.
- A coaching move apparently in discussions Wednesday was UCLA trying to hire Jamie Dixon from TCU. Perhaps Dixon sees the Bruins job as one of the very best in the sport, maybe the best. Otherwise, it’s puzzling as to why he would leave his alma mater so soon, just three years after he was brought back to Fort Worth. Dixon just last year took the Horned Frogs to their first NCAA tourney in 20 years and had built what appeared to be a solid, regular Big 12 contender, though this year was something of a step back and also saw a number of player defections.
- The early entries for the NBA Draft are flowing in. To no surprise, Murray State star Ja Morant has declared, doing so Wednesday. Among the others: North Carolina’s Coby White, LSU big man Naz Reid, Mississippi State freshman big Reggie Perry, and Tennessee guard Jordan Bone.
Tonight’s Menu:
- It’s the final game of the ancient National Invitation Tournament, and a quite unlikely matchup to wrap it up. Upstart Lipscomb takes on behemoth state school Texas (7 p.m. Eastern, ESPN). By this point, nothing the Bisons do should surprise; this is a tough team with more talent than most might know, and also has featured a red-hot guard in the NIT with Garrison Mathews. The Longhorns will have some size advantage, but not a massive one. Lipscomb has more firepower, but Texas did stifle TCU in the semifinals.
- The CollegeInsider.com Tournament title game also takes place with Wisconsin-Green Bay at Marshall. The Thundering Herd were this tourney’s favorite essentially from the start, and it’s one final game for the prolific senior scoring tandem of Jon Elmore and C.J. Burks. Meanwhile, it’s been a fun run in the CIT for the Phoenix, who will hope to use this event as a better springboard next year than fellow Horizon League foe Illinois-Chicago did from its CIT final appearance (and loss to Northern Colorado) last year.
Enjoy your Thursday.
Twitter: @HoopvilleAdam
