The Little Dances: Day 2

We all know that March Madness is all about the real NCAA tournament. But while those lucky souls that managed to earn themselves a bid to the Big Dance sit back and wait for Thursday, the rest of the country takes part in what I like to call the Little Dances -- the NIT, the CBI, and the CIT.

Here is what happened on Tuesday:


Game of the Day: Memphis 73, St. John's 71

A back and forth game, Memphis took a 44-35 halftime led on the strength of 10-13 shooting from three. But the Tigers couldn't keep the hot shooting going, allowing St. John's to rally and take a lead late in the game. The last few minutes were back and forth, and after Anthony Mason Jr tied the game at 71, Wesley Witherspoon drove from the left wing and put up a tough, floating layup that bounced around and in for the win.


Team of the Day: Nevada Wolfpack

Luke Babbitt scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half as the Wolfpack went to Wichita State and knocked off the Shockers 74-70. In the only upset of the day in the NIT (Nevada was the six seed, Wichita State the three seed). Making the win all the more impressive, it was the first time all season that the Shockers lost at home.


Player of the Day: Troy Cotton, Green Bay

Cotton scored 36 points, hitting on 9-16 threes, as the Pheonix went into Akron and knocked off the Zips in the first round of the CBI. Green Bay was down seven with just over five minutes left, but that is when Cotton caught fire, scoring 17 of his 36 over that stretch to lead the comeback. The 36 points and the nine threes were both career highs for Cotton.


NIT

7:00 pm - #4 Kent State 75, #5 Tulsa 74
7:00 pm - #3 Dayton 63, #6 Illinois State 42
7:00 pm - #2 Rhode Island 76, #7 Northwestern 64
7:00 pm - #2 Cincinnati 76, #7 Weber State 62
7:00 pm - #1 Virginia Tech 81, #8 Quinnipiac 61
8:00 pm - #2 Ole Miss 84, #7 Troy 65
8:05 pm - #6 Nevada 74, #3 Wichita State 70
9:00 pm - #3 Memphis 73, #6 St. Johns 71
10:00 pm - #1 Illinois 76, #8 Stony Brook 66


CIT

7:00 pm - Appalachian State 93, Harvard 71
8:05 pm - Missouri State 87, Middle Tennessee State 79
9:05 pm - Northern Colorado 81, Portland 73
10:35 pm - Pacific 86, Loyola Marymount 76


CBI

7:00 pm - Princeton 65, Duquesne 51
7:00 pm - Green Bay 70, Akron 66
7:00 pm - Charleston 82, Eastern Kentucky 79
7:00 pm - IUPUI 74, Hofstra 60
9:00 pm - Morehead State 74, Colorado State 60
10:00 pm - Boston U 96, Oregon State 78