There were a number of surprises from this year’s Las Vegas Invitational. What are some takeaways from the NCAA Basketball teams involved?
It was an interesting group of teams participating in this year’s Las Vegas Invitational. You had the national runner-up Texas Tech Red Raiders headlining the event, along with a trio of schools who missed out on the NCAA Tournament in Iowa, Creighton and San Diego State. All three of them bring in rosters capable of getting back to the big dance, making this a prime opportunity for one of them to gain a pair of quality wins.
San Diego State made a great opening impression, dominating Creighton by 31 points. The Aztecs, normally a team not known for dazzling offensive displays, went 11/18 from deep and shot 56% overall from the field. Yet the bigger surprise came later that night when Iowa upset Texas Tech, 72-61. The Hawkeyes haven’t been the greatest defensive unit yet still held the Red Raiders to 33% shooting.
Chris Beard’s struggles continued the following night, trailing by 14 points at halftime to Creighton in the 3rd place game. But while Texas Tech still came back to force it into overtime, the Bluejays prevailed in the end for a big win. However, it was San Diego State’s comeback (down by nine at the break) which ultimately worked, scoring 53 points in the final 20 minutes to win the Las Vegas Invitational title, 83-73.
With the mid-major taking home the two wins and the title, along with the favorite going home 0-2, there may be more questions than answers at this point. But at the moment, here are some takeaways I have from the event.