NIT Championship Game - Iowa vs. Baylor on ESPN
For those interested, the game is on ESPN. Iowa is down by four with eight minutes to go until halftime. Let's hope our Big Ten brethren can bring home the championship! And for those who say "Who cares, it's the NIT?", I respond with, "Don't you remember being excited when Michigan won it all?"
Edit 1: It is 27-22 at halftime. The Bears still have the lead.
Edit 2: Iowa lost 74-54. Unfortunately, they had an off shooting night.
Go Hawkeyes!
I remember being excited when they won it in 2004 and then held up my finger.
Then I realized they weren't #1. They were #66.
Seriously though, the NIT and CBI are great program builders. I still think we shouldn't have thumbed our nose at the CBI in 2010. That was like the equivalent of notre dame not accepting a bowl bid in 2008 because they thought they were too good for a lower bowl game.
Extra games & extra practices are valuable. Just ask VCU and Oregon.
But in hindsight, it couldn't have helped THAT much. 2010-11 was a success all triggered by one 3pter by Stuuuuuuuuuuu.
then I turned it on and got bored pretty quick. Go Iowa
but instead I flipped over and watched the ESPN 30-for-30 on Jim Valvano & the 1983 NC State team.
Given that Iowa lost by 20, it was a good choice.
Let's make it a Big Ten double-double! Or something like that...
I respond with, "Don't you remember being excited when Michigan won it all?"I don't quite think of the NIT champion as having "won it all." It's a respectable accomplishment, but not something you really beat your chest about.
But it was a glimmer of excitement that seemed - at the time - to indicate a postiive trajectory for Michigan basketball after enduring the late 90's & early 00's deep funk. I was genuinely excited winning the NIT at the time. Nowadays, no. In those days, yes.
but I do enjoy listening to Bobby Knight the commentator.
Meanwhile, Iowa down by 10 with 12 minutes left in the 2nd half...
Hey, I'm reporting from central Iowa. It is quiet here as well. Do not take offense to the lack of responses.
The blue line is the NIT 3-point line. ha
For those wondering, Iowa got smoked, 74-54. I didn't watch it, but clicked on the link and wondered, Did they win?
I didn't take a look at the box score after the game (although I did watch), so it didn't occur to me just how bad Iowa's shooting was - they went 18-69 from the field and 5-24 from 3-point range, which amounts to an effective FG% of 29.7%, which would be about half of Baylor's effective FG%. Beyond that, Baylor's 33 defensive rebounds, 9 steals and 7 blocks seem to tell the rest of the story statistically. That being said, it wasn't for lack of effort on Iowa's part - their offensive rebounding percentage was nearly 40%.