They weren’t the greatest games in the 2019 NIT Season Tip-Off but it’ll impact the rest of the NCAA Basketball. Here are some takeaways from the results.
Coming into the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament, I looked at the event as one of the biggest tossups. That’s because the four NCAA Basketball teams involved (Ole Miss, Syracuse, Penn State and Oklahoma State) on paper looked very close to one another. There was no clear-cut favorite, nor was there a true bottom feeder in the group. It could’ve gone either way, with two solid resume wins on the line.
The Cowboys made a statement to open the tournament, taking out Syracuse without much problem in the semifinals. It was looking like they would face Penn State after they took a 21-point second-half lead against Ole Miss. But the Nittany Lions choked it away, allowing the Rebels to squeak by with a 74-72 win.
Both teams had similar first-half efforts as well in their respective games on Friday. Penn State jumped out to another big lead versus Syracuse but had no problem holding on, scoring 51 points in the second half to beat the Orange by 21. Ole Miss struggled out the gate against Oklahoma State in the championship matchup and never got it going, putting up just 37 total points in a 78-37 drubbing.
It wasn’t the prettiest of games to watch but at least we got to see these NCAA Basketball teams play against better competition. Some stepped up and others wilted. Here are some takeaways that I observed from the four games in the NIT Season Tip-Off.