March 19, 2007...10:30 am
Forget the NCAA … for a moment … let’s talk NIT
For the second time this season, West Virginia and North Carolina State will meet on the hardwood. This time things are a little different. West Virginia comes into the game still irked at not being included in the NCAA tournament, though as we have discussed here before the Mountaineers probably didn’t earn the spot in the dance even with the win over UCLA. North Carolina State is on a roll winning key games in the ACC tournament, coming within an eyelash of knocking off UNC in the finals, and winning two games at home in the NIT.
State now has to take to the road for really the first time this postseason. Even though the ACC tournament was in Tampa, Fla., the crowd still favored the underdog State and the Red Coat wearing Sidney Lowe. This time they will face a hostile crowd at the WVU Coliseum, traditionally one of the - if not the - toughest places to play in the Big East. Winner goes to Madison Square Garden, a place the Mountaineers have made home in recent years.
It’s a great story for North Carolina State, as is the story of the Mountaineers, who lost four of five starters from a two-year run of Sweet 16 visits and were expected to finish last in the competitive Big East. N.C. State was expected to finish near the bottom of the barrel of an ACC, that was improved from a year ago.
This should be an interesting game as West Virginia will attempt to force State into playing its style of game and forcing turnovers on defense - a trademark of John Beilein’s defense.
Honestly, though, you have to wonder how much more State has in it to continue this run. A three day break is likely appreciated, but State has had to play survival ball for nearly a month. At some point, that will wear a team out.
If you’re looking for a game to get you through the rest to Thursday’s Sweet 16 games, this could be the one for you. I mean you could watch the women’s game, but why?
2 Comments
March 21, 2007 at 7:52 am
Congrats to the Mountaineers for pulling out a win last night! I didn’t get a chance to watch, but it sounded like a hard-fought game. You guys pulled out the hot shooting there to put us away.
Good game!
March 21, 2007 at 9:17 am
You missed a good game. It was probably one of the most back-and-forth contests that I’ve seen this postseason, where you didn’t have a clue what was going on with about 5 minutes to go in the game.
Frank Young was hot from the outside, setting a new school record for 3-pointers in a season. State played a great game. They were cold on the shooting side and I think that hurt them. I believe they shot something like 38 percent.
West Virginia now gets Mississippi State. I’m just hoping that it’s like the football game this season where WVU took control of the game and never let State into the action, but MSU is a quality program with some great players. They dominated FSU yesterday in their quarterfinal.
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