Well, the NIT Championship is now set.
On Monday, Wichita State routed Washington State 75-44 to advance to the NIT Championship. The Shockers would face the winner of the Alabama/Colorado matchup on Tuesday at the famed Madison Square Garden.
The Shockers (28-8) narrowly missed out on the NCAA Tournament so they had to settle for the second option - the NIT. The No. 4 seeded Shockers were led by Garrett Stutz, who led the way with 24 points and 11 rebounds.So Wichita State was forced to play the waiting game.
Luckily, for the fans, the other semifinal was a great game.
Former VCU coach Anthony Grant is currently the Tide's head man and he was hoping that the Tide would do just as well as the Rams have in the "big" tournament. His hopes were on target.
The first half was a rather entertaining one.
At halftime, the Tide was winning the game 36-30. The box score, however, doesn't show how great of a half of basketball it really was.
The first half featured a 10-0 run by the Tide, then a 10-1 run by Colorado, and finally a 17-2 run by Alabama. That put the Tide up six with twenty more minutes to play.
Junior JaMychal Green, who announced that he would return to Alabama for his senior season, scored a game-high 22 points for the Tide. He also added in five rebounds, while going 11-for-16 from the field.
Despite a quality performance, Green sat out five minutes in the second half after picking up his fourth foul. He would eventually foul out with 2:27 left in the game.
At the time of Green's final foul, the Buffaloes were only able to score two points. 'Bama guard Trevor Releford drove in for the game-winning layup with 12.6 seconds left.
Colorado guard Alec Burks missed an outside shot at the buzzer, successfully ending the game with the Buffaloes behind one point.
Burks, a projected lottery pick this year, added 20 points, six rebounds, and four assists for the Buffaloes as they now pack their bags and go home. Colorado's Levi Knutson added 14 points and Cory Higgins also added in 13.
Alabama's Releford, who hit the game-winning layup, was the only other Tide player to score in double digits, as he added 13 points, along with six assists.
Alabama (25-11) will now meet Wichita State (28-8) in the championship game at 6 p.m. CDT on Thursday at Madison Square Garden for what is sure to be a great game.
