League Foes LA Tech, WKU Battle for Spot in NIT Final Four

[FriscoDawg]

Game times and networks are posted on the ESPN website for the NIT quarterfinals Thursday.

5:00 PM CT--Mississippi State vs Richmond, UNT Coliseum, ESPN2
6:00 PM CT--North Carolina State vs Colorado State, Comerica Center, ESPN
8:00 PM CT--Boise State vs Memphis, UNT Coliseum, ESPN
9:00 PM CT--Louisiana Tech vs Western Kentucky, Comerica Center, ESPN2

Semifinal games are at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM Saturday at the Comerica Center.

The championship is at 11:00 AM with the 3rd place game at 2:00 PM Sunday also at the Comerica Center.

[glm47]

Game times and networks are posted on the ESPN website for the NIT quarterfinals Thursday.

5:00 PM CT--Mississippi State vs Richmond, UNT Coliseum, ESPN2
6:00 PM CT--North Carolina State vs Colorado State, Comerica Center, ESPN
8:00 PM CT--Boise State vs Memphis, UNT Coliseum, ESPN
9:00 PM CT--Louisiana Tech vs Western Kentucky, Comerica Center, ESPN2

Semifinal games are at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM Saturday at the Comerica Center.

The championship is at 11:00 AM with the 3rd place game at 2:00 PM Sunday also at the Comerica Center.

Pretty crappy of the NIT to have conference foes playing each other in the 2nd round.

[dawg80]

Pretty crappy of the NIT to have conference foes playing each other in the 2nd round.

Yep! so sad for WKU, otherwise they might have reached the final!

[HogDawg]

Pretty crappy of the NIT to have conference foes playing each other in the 2nd round.

I've been looking forward to another meeting with WKU anyway. Of course, I thought it would happen in the CUSA Tournament Final. All year we've had to listen to CUSA fans talk about how good WKU is, even though I always thought they were over-rated.

LA Tech played WKU in two back-to-back road games in Bowling Green earlier this season. The good news is, we learned a lot.

- Tech lost the Friday game 64-66 in the last minute. WKU's star Forward Charles Bassey scored 24 pts and garnered 16 rebounds. He hit 9 of 10 free throws (90%). But, even worse, the game officials really cheated Tech. WKU shot 31 free throws, connecting on 24 (77.4%), to Tech's 16 free throws, sinking 9 (56.3%)). Talk about "home cooking", that's a huge difference in free throws. Also, Kenny Lofton Jr. was held scoreless, and had only 1 rebound. Can you say disappearing act?


- Tech won the Saturday game comfortably, 63-58. In this one, Tech played better defense, and Bassey only had 14 pts, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks. But in this game, the game officials were much less of a difference maker. Tech shot 13 free throws (9/13, 69.2%), and WKU shot 13 (12/13, 92.3%). Lofton played better in this one, scoring 6 pts and 5 rebounds.


BLUEPRINT to beat WKU:

1) Slow down Charles Bassey. He's an NBA 1st round talent, so you're NOT going to stop him. But you can slow him down with good, agitating, defense. Tech held Bassey to only 14 pts and won the 2nd game by 5 pts. Also, UNT held Bassey to only 13 pts last Saturday night, and beat WKU in the CUSA Tournament Final. So strong defense --particularly on Bassey, is key.

2) Keep WKU off the foul line. WKU coach Rick Stansberry is a strong believer in driving hard to the basket and drawing fouls. He's not interested in beautiful, smooth, basketball. Stansberry's goal is to get physical down low, and shoot 25 or more free throws every night. His objective is to get 35% to 40% of his teams scoring from the free throw line. In his first game against Tech, his team got 36% of its total scoring from free throws. However, in game two against Tech --a WKU loss-- WKU only got 22% of its scoring at the line.

So, the choppier and nastier this game gets, the more Stansberry will love it. If his team can shoot 25 or more free throws, Stansberry knows he's likely to win. If not, he's likely to lose. WKU is an excellent free throw shooting team, so getting to the free throw line will be paramount to his chances of winning.

[Dixonfor6]

So you’re saying we need to Jack up a bunch of threes and make them at a high clip

[FriscoDawg]

Pretty crappy of the NIT to have conference foes playing each other in the 2nd round.

They don't want conference teams against each other in the championship.

Memphis would have played SMU Thursday night if SMU had won, and Richmond would have played St. Louis if St. Louis had won. Colorado State and Boise State have to play in the semifinals if both win Thursday. And Tech took care of any possible Ole Miss-Mississippi State semifinal matchup.

[skilldawg]

The way to stop the free throw parade is to man up and take charges

[HogDawg]

The way to stop the free throw parade is to man up and take charges

On paper, that's true. But that's easier said than done when the guy running over you is a 6'11, 245 lbs, all muscle, NBA 1st rounder. LOL!

I think we need to double team Massey every time we can.

[boxerdog]

I'm glad Carson Williams is taking a swing for the NFL. That guy is a bull!

[skilldawg]

Like I said, man up. I don’t care if they call a block. Make them pay legitimately and we will get our share of calls or make them think twice

[HogDawg]

Currently, ESPN's pregame "Matchup Predictor" gives LA Tech a 59% chance of beating WKU.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId=401311783

[champion110]

It is going to be another hard fought battle. We go through slumps in every game. We HAVE to be able to score with some consistency. Anyway, I think HogDawg did a good job of saying exactly what we need to do on defense. Just hope it is called fairly! Jr. has improved, so that should be a big help. He has to stay out of foul trouble, though. And, no matter what anyone thinks (broken finger or not), we have to have Williams on the floor.

[News_Bot]

A new article has been posted on www.latechsports.com:



Louisiana Tech attempts to make its second trip ever to the NIT Final Four when they face WKU in the quarterfinals on Thursday night at 9 p.m. inside the Comerica Center.

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Discuss it here.

[Bulldog Tom]

Vegas says this one is close. Louisiana Tech -1.

[Bulldog Tom]

Vegas says this one is close. Louisiana Tech -1.

ESPN is now showing Western Kentucky -1. Toss up either way.