NIT 2nd Rd Showdown: Connecticut v. Virginia Tech

The NIT has some interesting 2nd round match-ups. The Virginia Tech Hokies against the Connecticut Huskies seems like a game that we would find in the second round or sweet-16 round of the NCAA tournament, but in fact they will be battling Monday night for a chance to move on and perhaps win the National Invitational Tournament.

The Huskies spent much of their season searching for their identity. The absence of head coach Jim Calhoun for several games due to health problems didn’t help the cause. This year was a bad year to have to figure out what your teams was about, and who would be the “go to” players. Big East basketball is always tough, but this year was especially tough. Eight teams from the Big East conference made the NCAA tournament this season, and if not for a couple of upsets in the mid-major tourney’s it may have been 9. All but 3 teams in the conference had winning records this season. UCONN found themselves in a heap of trouble right out of the gate when they lost to a mediocre Cincinnati squad in their first conference match-up. A 7-11 record win generally not get you into the NCAA tournament, but if the Huskies would have won just 2 more games in the conference tournament, they would have been in.

Offensively the Huskies are fine. Four of their starting 5 is averaging over 10 points per game. Jerome Dyson leads the offensive attack with a 17.3 point per game average. Kemba Walker is the other starting guard on the team. Combine these two average 33 points, 8.5 rebounds and 9 assists per game. Stanley Robinson and Gavin Edwards are better than average forwards that clean up in the rebounding department. They contribute over 25 points and 14 rebounds per contest. However, the Huskies failure to reach the “Big Dance” rests solely on the shoulders of their defense. For the season, they only scored 4 points per game more than they allowed. This will have to improve dramatically if Calhoun and company expect to get to the next level next year.

Many bubble teams that don’t make the NCAA tournament usually “mail-it-in” for the NIT tourney, but the Hokies have taken the opposite approach. Despite winning 24 games in the tough ACC conference, Virginia Tech was snubbed for the Big Dance after losing in the 1st round of the ACC tournament.

A first round blow-out of Quinnipiac may be just what this team needed to refocus and salvage what may have been perceived as a wasted season. Malcolm Delaney leads the way offensively for the Hokies with a 20.5 point per game average. Dorenzo Hudson and Jeff Allen also contribute over 10 points per game, and combine for 11 rebounds and 3 assists per game. The one glaring problem with this Va Tech team is the lack of depth on the bench. Outside of their top 6 scorers, they do not have a player that scores more than 3 points per game. This may not be a problem in the NIT tournament, but it would have been transparent if they had made the NCAA tourney.

Although the NIT tournament is looked at as an afterthought to the NCAA, this will be a great game that should have a big game feel. Tune in Monday as 2 of the better teams that didn’t make the Big Dance square off in the NIT.

Related posts:

1. Virginia Tech Takes on Rhode Island in NIT Quarterfinals
2. NIT Quarterfinals: Texas Tech vs. Mississippi
3. Connecticut takes on Arizona in Elite Eight Showdown
4. Syracuse takes on Virginia Tech in battle of unbeatens
5. Louisville v. Connecticut in Friday Night Showdown

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