8 seed california bakersfield vs 6 seed gt in the final 4 of the nit

gtpi

gtpi

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" Cal State Bakersfield became the first eight-seed to advance to the final four of the NIT, defeating Texas Arlington 80-76 on Wednesday night. "

" For the third-straight game, Bakersfield used uncanny long-range shooting to build a big lead. The Roadrunners were 8 of 13 against top-seeded Cal and 10 of 13 against No. 4 Colorado State before going a combined 2 of 14 in the second halves. Against UTA they were 8 of 14 and led 45-29 before making 2 of 5 in the second half."

sounds very familiar. eh?

http://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...nds-bakersfield-to-nit-finals-with-80-76-win/
 

MWBATL

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Given how well we have been defending the three point line in recent games, this bodes well for us. Given their quickness as individual players, maybe a little less so.
 

RamblinRed

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They have shot lights out from 3-pt range in all 3 NIT games (all on the road so really impressive) and then used their really tough defense - 12th nationally in D EFF, to build huge first half leads.
In their 3 NIT games they have lead by 25, 20 and 16 at halftime.

Can't let them shoot well from range and can't let them have a big halftime lead.
 
ESPNjacket

ESPNjacket

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They play a lot of guys (mostly short, quick guys) and foul a lot.
They are second in the country in opponents % of points from free throws.
They create a lot of turnovers (9th by %) and turn it over a lot (331th by %).
They have had success on the offensive glass (68th) but have had trouble with defensive rebounding (240th).
Kenpom's model has GT by 1.
They have shot the 3 well in the NIT but were below average for the season (34.2%/211th).
Rod Barnes, formerly of Georgia State and Ole Miss, is their coach.
 
gtuberfan

gtuberfan

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In various threads I am seeing stuff about TCU. Remember that one of their better players (Jaylen Fisher) broke his wrist and will not be available. Hasn't been for a couple games now.
 
OG-T

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On name cache, we're a standout — but that's what a couple of CSB's opponents probably thought. A few CSB games really make them a threat.
•Lost by 12 AT Arizona (a 17-0 run by CSB in 2nd half made it a 4pt game).
•CSB led SMU AT SMU by 5 with 5 mins to play, SMU went on a 11-0 run to finish game.
•They lost by 10 AT BYU (who beat Gonzaga), and CSB was within single digits with 5 mins to go.

They clearly are not intimidated by bigger programs. From my limited view, CSB seems wildly streaky, and frenetic, so no lead is comfortable. Complacency is the enemy if GT gets a lead. I felt the Pastner FT metric was the holy grail vs. Ole Miss. GT had devastating success with that goal. Against CSB, I think staying disciplined, staying home, and staying with the system is the difference-maker. CSB has proven — particularly against UTSA — that they make wild mistakes and poor decisions (UTSA built too much of a hole, and matched play with equally crazy sloppiness).

HELL, I'LL SCOUT IT: Maintain our spacing, movement and value the ball, and continue our active defensive push out to shooters, slides to help, and I believe over the course of game we'll convert CSB's weakness (wild play) into our strength. I like that CSB is low 60s% from the line as a team, and hoping no anomaly rises up on the charity stripe at MSG. 71-66 on our way to play UCF (really concerned about Tacko Fall in that one with the way Okogie drives to basket, and Heath finds bunnies in lane; those will all be challenged).
 
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