University of Houston men’s basketball team will be going to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.
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For Tech, it will be an opportunity for its five-member senior class to continue playing, a chance that team members looked forward to after being eliminated from the ACC tournament by Virginia in the quarterfinals. Virginia Tech is 13-5 at home and 8-5 in games outside of the ACC.
The Jackets enter the NIT having won six of their last eight games, including an 88-85 overtime decision against Clemson in the ACC Tournament.
“I’ve never played in the NIT as a head coach, but I completely understand the emotions of some teams that thought they had earned the right to play in the NCAA and then to not be able to”, Williams said Sunday.
The victor of the Virginia Tech – Princeton game will play the victor of the BYU – UAB game. There is no “One Shining Moment” video after the NIT championship game and no one is filling out NIT brackets at the office, but for a program that last played in the postseason in 2010, there is still plenty of excitement among the players. The Tigers are 22-6 overall and were 12-2 in the Ivy League… This will be the first-ever meeting between the Hokies and Tigers. “As of right now the only thing on our minds is winning this first game here at home”.
The Hokies (19-14), who earned the third seed in the St. Bonaventure Bracket, will be playing beyond the ACC tournament for the first time since 2011. VT is averaging 74.6 points per game and they are shooting 44.9 percent from the floor while defensively they are allowing 72.1 points and their opponents are shooting 43.3 percent.
Of course, there’s still work to be done this season.
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The total is set at 152 and while I see scoring, this looks to be too aggressive so my free pick is going to be under the total. “Hopefully, we can extend our season a little bit longer”.
