The NIT Tournament continues tonight as the Belmont Bruins take on the Clemson Tigers. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the odds for the game have Clemson as the favorite in this one, as they are playing at home.
Both Clemson and Belmont finished with better than 20 wins this season, but it certainly was hard to make the NCAA Tournament. For many teams that reach the NIT it's considered a successful campaign but it's hard to imagine either of these schools were pleased they had to play in this year's NIT. Yet, they both find themselves on the brink of their season ending tonight.
Belmont has 26 wins on the season and they've captured nine wins in their last 10 games overall. Going back even further, the Bruins have been able to get wins in 14 of their last 16 games, which certainly helped them earn a spot in the NIT. During the regular non-conference season the Bruins had defeats to teams like Kentucky, VCU and Richmond. But they did showcase their talents in many games, beating 12th-ranked North Carolina in Chapel Hill back in November.
The Bruins' leading scorer is Craig Bradshaw, who tossed in 26 points in the opening round of this tournament to beat Wisconsin-Green Bay and added 17 in the team's most recent win over Robert Morris.
Clemson narrowly beat Illinois in their most recent game, taking out the Fighting Illini by a single point to end their season. Now the Tigers move on and are looking for a spot in the Final Four at Madison Square Garden. The Tigers haven't been the most consistent team all season, but they do have a very good player in KJ McDaniels, who scored 30 in the team's opener against Georgia State but was held to just a dozen against Illinois.
The Tigers aren't a team that likes to play a super fast pace and they average just over 63 points per game this season, which ranks just 324th nationally. They only hand out 10 assists per game (330th) and the don't shoot the ball well, either, connecting on just under 42 percent of their shots, which puts them 293rd best in the country.
In this game tonight, rebounding and getting second chance opportunities is going to determine the winner. Belmont is one of the best 20 teams nationally in scoring at better than 80 points per game. They shoot almost 51 percent from the floor, which is second best in the country. Offensively they're a much better team, but they are not a good rebounding squad. We like getting the seven points here as they are such a good offensive team. The style of play is different with both schools, but we like Belmont to hang around in this one.
Free Pick: Clemson 66, Belmont 62
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