NIT Tournament: Game previews of North Texas vs Wisconsin and UAB vs Utah Valley

Four teams are left and they all are trying to capture the 84th NIT Tournament title.

Game Match Up

Teams and Records: Utah Valley 28-8 (15-3) vs. UAB 28-9 (14-6)

Date: March 18th

Time: 9:30 PM EST

Location: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, NV

Channel/Streaming: ESPN2/ESPN+

UAB

Conference: C-USA

Best Victories: Georgia (87-73), South Carolina (84-70), Charlotte (76-68), Jacksonville (80-61), South Alabama (76-68), Charlotte (76-68), UTEP (79-73), at Louisana Tech (81-74), at Rice (70-52), Florida Atlantic (86-77), Middle Tennessee (92-69), at UTEP (79-66), at Western Kentucky (72-60), at Charlotte (93-91), Rice (87-60), and North Texas (76-69)

NIT Tournament Wins: Southern Miss (88-60), Morehead State (77-59), and at Vanderbilt (67-59)

Notable Losses: Toledo (93-85), at West Virginia (70-81), at Florida Atlantic (86-88), at Florida International (87-90), Western Kentucky (78-80), at Middle Tennessee (73-74), North Texas (52-63), at North Texas (79-82), and Florida Atlantic (56-78)

NET Ranking: 57

KenPom Ranking: 43

RPI Ranking: 49

College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 52

Sagarin Ranking: 46

Quadrant 1 Record: 2-4

Quadrant 2 Record: 2-3

Quadrant 3 Record: 10-1

Utah Valley

Conference: WAC

Best Victories: Stephen F. Austin (113-69), at Seattle (67-58), Southern Utah (90-83), New Mexico (77-72), at Grand Canyon (76-74), Sam Houston (80-64), at Oregon (77-72), at BYU (75-60), Long Beach State (88-78), and Tarleton State (72-58)

NIT Tournament Wins: At New Mexico (83-69), at Colorado (81-69), and Cincinnati (74-68)

Notable Losses: Utah State (58-75), at Wake Forest (65-68), Morgan State (72-73), Southern Utah (88-89), at Boise State (69-87), Seattle (80-85), At Southern Utah (67-79), and at Tarleton State (58-77)

NET Ranking: 74

KenPom Ranking: 64

RPI Ranking: 61

College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 82

Sagarin Ranking: 77

Quadrant 1 Record: 3-2

Quadrant 2 Record: 4-2

Quadrant 3 Record: 9-3

Rivalry History

Current Win Streak: The Wolverines have won the last game two between these two schools, having a one-game winning streak in this rivalry.

The last meeting between both schools: Utah Valley defeated UAB on the road by a final score of 66-55.

Prediction: UAB 79, Utah Valley 73

North Texas

Conference: C-USA

Best Wins: Grand Canyon (60-58), San Jose State (69-54), Fresno State (61-52), UMass (62-44), Long Beach State (68-47), at Western Kentucky (70-66), at Middle Tennessee (56-51), Louisiana Tech (67-65), at UAB (63-52), at Louisana Tech (72-62), UAB (82-79), Charlotte (67-43), Middle Tennessee (64-50), Western Kentucky (67-33), and Louisana Tech (74-46)

NIT Tournament Wins: Alcorn State (69-53), Sam Houston (75-55), and at Oklahoma State (65-59 in OT)

Notable Defeats: At Saint Mary’s (33-63), Florida Atlantic (46-50), UNC Wilmington (51-55), at Charlotte (49-55), Rice (60-72), UAB (69-76), and at Florida Atlantic (62-66)

NET Ranking: 38

KenPom Ranking: 33

RPI Ranking: 28

College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 62

Sagarin Ranking: 53

Quadrant 1 Record: 2-3

Quadrant 2 Record: 4-2

Quadrant 3 Record: 11-1

Why North Texas can win this game

The Mean Green has been victorious in 14 of their last 16 games prior to facing Wisconsin in the semifinals of the NIT Tournament. North Texas is a member of Conference USA which is considered a top three mid-major conference and finished in second place in the regular season standing. Their second-place finish is even more impressive when you consider the NCAA Tournament run by Florida Atlantic who finished in first place and shocked many in the college basketball world with their impressive tournament run.

The Mean Green in Conference USA play defeated UAB twice, beat Middle Tennessee twice, and defeated Louisana Tech three times as well. Their win against Oklahoma State on the road to advance to the semifinals of the tournament was impressive.

This is an intriguing match-up between two a mid-major team from the south and a power-five team from the north. An argument could have been made that the Mean Green should have made the NCAA tournament with their NET and Ken Pom rankings being in the top 40 and a top 30 ranking in the RPI rankings. North Texas’ defense arguably is in the top 20 this season and its offense will be challenged by the Badger’s defense which will look to slow the pace of the game.  If North Texas wins this game it will be because of its strong guard play of Tylor Perry and Kai Huntsberry.

Wisconsin

Conference: Big Ten

Best Victories: Stanford (60-50), Dayton (43-42), USC (64-59), at Marquette (80-77), Maryland (64-59), Iowa (78-75), Penn State (63-60), at Ohio State (65-60), at Penn State (79-74), Michigan (64-59), and Iowa (64-52)

NIT Tournament Wins: Bradley (81-62), Liberty (75-71), at Oregon (61-58)

Notable Losses: Kansas (68-69), Wake Forest (75-78), at Illinois (69-79), Michigan State (65-69), at Indiana (45-63), at Northwestern (63-66), at Maryland (55-73), Illinois (51-61), Northwestern (52-54), at Nebraska (63-73), Rutgers (57-58), at Michigan (79-87), Purdue (61-63), and Ohio State (57-65)

NET Ranking: 80

KenPom Ranking: 62

RPI Ranking: 89

College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 64

Sagarin Ranking: 51

Quadrant 1 Record: 6-7

Quadrant 2 Record: 8-6

Quadrant 3 Record: 1-1

Why Wisconsin can win this game

The Badgers have had a roller coaster of a season but when they are playing well, they are a difficult team to defeat. They started off the season defeating Stanford at home, Dayton and USC on a neutral court, and Marquette on the road. Their early season losses were in overtime against Kansas in the Battle 4 Atlantis and a three-point defeat at the hands of Wake Forest.

They even started Big Ten play undefeated at 3-0 that included a road victory at Iowa. However, they ended up losing at Illinois and lost five out of six games with their only win during that stretch against Penn State. The Badgers after that period of games would play well one night but then lose their next game. From their win at Ohio State to their loss at Michigan they would win then lose then win and then lose in a pattern of inconsistency. However, Wisconsin seems to have found its rhythm in the NIT tournament.

The Badgers are similar to the Mean Green that they play very solid defense and like North Texas, they have good guard play with Chucky Hepburn and Connor Essegian. For Wisconsin to win this game, they more than likely need to shoot well from beyond the three-point line and make at minimum eight threes because North Texas doesn’t allow opponents to get easy baskets in the paint.

Prediction: North Texas 68, Wisconsin 67