The Little Dances: Day 1

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: Marshall 90, Western Carolina 88

Western Carolina was all set to cap one of the best comebacks in college basketball this season. The Catamounts had rallied from a seven point deficit in the final minute to tie the game at 88. Marshall had the ball for the final possession, Harouna Mutumbo made a steal with two seconds left, calling timeout to earn possession. The only problem? Western Carolina was out of time outs. The Catamounts were assessed a technical foul, and Marshall hit both free throws to hold on for the win in the first round of the CIT.


Team of the Day: Jacksonville Dolphins

Jacksonville knocked off Arizona State in impressive fashion on Tuesday night. Ben Smith scored 26 points, but the most important three came with 1.5 seconds left. After Derek Glasser missed a free throw, Smith came the other way and banked in a 24 footer for the win. Arizona State was the top seed in the NIT.


Player of the Day: Mike Evanovich, Fairfield

Fairfield was down 27 points with under 16 minutes left in the game, but led by 32 points and nine threes from Mike Evanovich, the Stags were able to rally against George Mason. Fairfield was still down nine with 1:05 left and seven with :34 left, but Evanovich hit three threes in a 12-3 run to end it, including a game tying three at the buzzer. Fairfield took a quick lead in overtime and never looked back.


Tuesday's NIT Results

#1 Mississippi State 81, #8 Jackson State 67
#1 Arizona State, $8 Jacksonville
#2 UAB 65, #7 Coastal Carolina 49
#4 Connecticut 59, #5 Northeatern 57
#4 North Carolina 80, #5 William & Mary 72
#5 Texas Tech 87, #4 Seton Hall 69
#6 North Carolina State 58, South Florida 57

Tuesday's CIT Results

Marshall 90, Western Carolina 88
Fairfield 101, George Mason 96 OT
Creighton 89, South Dakota 78

Tuesday's CBI Results

VCU 79, George Washington 73
St. Louis 63, Indiana State 54


Wednesday's Slate of Tournament Games

NIT

7:00 pm - #5 Tulsa at #4 Kent State
7:00 pm - #6 Illinois State at #3 Dayton
7:00 pm - ESPNU - #7 Nothwestern at #2 Rhode Island
7:00 pm - ESPN2 - #7 Weber State at #2 Cincinnati
7:00 pm - #8 Quinnipiac at #1 Virginia Tech
8:00 pm - #7 Troy at #2 Ole Miss
8:05 pm - #6 Nevada at #3 Wichita State
9:00 pm - ESPN2 - #6 St. Johns at #3 Memphis
10:00 pm - ESPNU - #8 Stony Brook at #1 Illinois


CIT

7:00 pm - Harvard @ Appalachian State
8:05 pm - Middle Tennessee State @ Missouri State
9:05 pm - Portland @ Northern Colorado
10:35 pm - Pacific @ Loyola Marymount


CBI

7:00 pm - Duquesne @ Princetown
7:00 pm - Green Bay @ Akron
7:00 pm - Charleston @ Eastern Kentucky
7:00 pm - IUPUI @ Hofstra
9:00 pm - Colorado State @ Morehead State
10:00 pm - Boston U @ Oregon State