The NCAA tournament has a history of being dominated by the most-anticipated games of the season, but there’s no denying that the NIT has had some memorable moments this year.
Here’s our countdown of the best moments from the NIAAs final slate of games.
The NIT Final Game:Saturday, June 20 (8 p.m.
ET, ESPN2)The first game of the tournament has been called the Big Ten’s best ever, but it was also the most anticipated game of all time, thanks to the hype.
ESPN, ESPN3, ESPNU and WatchESPN all showed live coverage on the NCAA TV schedule.
This is a rare moment in which both ESPN and WatchDisney are streaming a national championship game, and the networks had to cut out the live stream on Friday to save money.
The games are still available on ESPN3 and ESPN2.ESPN, ESPN, TNT, ABC, ESPNEWS and Watch ESPN have all shown live coverage, including some ESPN3 originals.
Here are the most talked about moments from this year’s NIT final games:1.
The Hoosiers’ win over Michigan State, which saw the Hoosier offense dominate Michigan State on the boards and the Spartans’ defense surrender 18 points.
The Big Ten Tournament record for points scored in a game is 17.
The Hoosers led by 18 points early in the second half, and then scored on their first nine possessions to build a 17-point lead in the final minutes.
That’s the best start to a conference tournament game in the conference history.
Michigan State was led by freshman guard Tyus Jones, who led all scorers with 19 points and scored six of his team-high 14 in the first half.
The Spartans outscored the Hoasiers 35-26 in the half, including 11 of 13 from 3-point range.1.
Iowa State’s 73-59 win over Texas Tech on Thursday, which sent the Cyclones to the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals.
Tech scored 42 points in the third quarter, which was its first lead in four quarters of play.
Iowa, which won the previous meeting, had not been outscattered by Texas Tech.1a.
Kansas State’s 67-53 win over Kentucky on Wednesday, which set the KU record for the longest scoreless game in school history.
KSU shot 53.5 percent in the period.
KU led 47-39 at halftime, and Kentucky led 46-37 at the half.2.
Ohio State’s 69-58 win over Virginia on Monday, which made the Buckeyes the first team in school-record history to sweep a conference semifinal.
The Buckeyes outscores Virginia, 63-47 in the fourth quarter.1b.
Kentucky’s 68-56 win over Maryland on Wednesday.
The Wildcats outscore Maryland, 51-30 in the fifth quarter.
Kentucky is tied with Ohio State for the most points scored at the end of the first quarter in school annals.2c.
Iowa’s 81-56 victory over Purdue on Monday.
Iowa outscoring Purdue, 45-26 from the field in the last five minutes.1d.
Iowa has never lost a NIT semifinal game.
The Hawkeyes were upset by Kansas State in the 2016 semifinals, but the Wildcats beat the Jayhawks in the title game to move on to the NCAA Tournament.
The next meeting will be held in Omaha, Neb., on Sunday.
