Day Two of the men’s National Invitation Tournament saw another Bay Area school advance, USF, into the second round, while San Jose State nearly overcame a 15-point second-half deficit before falling just short in its first NIT game since 1981.
That leaves five local teams alive in the NIT and WBIT, not to mention the Saint Mary’s men and the Cal women playing in the NCAA Tournament later this week.
Tonight, the Stanford women (16-13) play host to Portland (29-4) in the WBIT at 7 p.m. at Maples Pavilion (and can be seen on ESPN+). The Cardinal has never lost in four previous meetings against the Pilots, including an 81-51 rout last season at Maples Pavilion. This is the first postseason tournament for the Cardinal other than the NCAA women’s tournament since 1988.
At 4:30 p.m., the Saint Mary’s women (14-16) play their first-round WNIT game at Texas Southern (16-15).
Here’s a look USF and San Jose State’s men’s NIT games from Wednesday night and what’s ahead.
NIT
Loyola Chicago 73, San Jose State 70
After falling behind by as much as 15 points early in the second half and trailing by 12 points with 4:55 remaining, the Spartans got as close as 71-70 on Latrell Davis’ free throws with 1:26 left. But the Spartans managed just two more field-goal attempts the rest of the way and the Ramblers escaped the Event Center with the first-round win. Loyola will remain in the Bay Area, playing at USF on Sunday.
SJSU Josh Uduje scored 18 points and Donavan Yap scored 16 to lead the Spartans, who finished 15-20.
Playing before an announced crowd of 3,627 at the Event Center, the Spartans led by as many as six in the first half, but Loyola ended the half on a 13-2 run to take a 42-35 lead into intermission. SJSU trailed by double digits most of the second half before going on an 11-0 run with less than five minutes remaining. The Spartans held the Ramblers without a field goal in the final 4:45 of the game.
USF 79, Utah Valley 70
Malik Thomas had 21 points and 10 rebounds as the No. 1 seeded Dons held on after blowing a late double-digit lead at War Memorial to earn their first postseason win in seven years. USF (25-9) plays host to Loyola Chicago (23-11) on Sunday.
Carlton Linguard scored 11 of his 18 points in the first half as the Dons built a 37-32 lead at halftime. The Dons led by 14 points early in the second half, but the Wolverines (25-9) went on a 27–12 run to take a 61-60 lead with 5:47 remaining. USF ended the game on a 19-9 run. Thomas scored eight points in the game-sealing run.
Ryan Beasley added 19 points for the Dons.
What’s next
The three remaining Bay Area teams in the NIT play second-round home games Sunday. If Stanford and USF both win they will meet Tuesday or Wednesday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in the quarterfinals on the Butler campus in Indianapolis. SCU is also a win away from Indianapolis and would face the winner of Sunday’s UC Irvine/Jacksonville State game.
Sunday’s games:
- USF (25-9) vs. Loyola Chicago (23-11), 4 p.m. at War Memorial. ESPN2
- Stanford (21-13) vs. Kent State (23-11), 6 p.m. at Maples Pavilion. ESPN2
- Santa Clara (21-12) vs. University of Alabama at Birmingham (23-12), 6 p.m. at the Leavy Center. ESPNU