
Brody Schmidt/Associated Press
The second round of the men’s 2018 National Invitation Tournament wrapped up Monday, with four games spread out across the evening.
Four teams—the Penn State Nittany Lions, Marquette Golden Eagles, Mississippi State Bulldogs and Louisville Cardinals—already sealed a quarterfinal berth, and four more teams will join them.
Below is a look at all of the second-round scores and a brief overview of Monday’s action.
NIT Second-Round Results
March 18
No. 4 Penn State 73, No. 1 Notre Dame 63
No. 2 Marquette 101, No. 3 Oregon 92
No. 4 Mississippi State 78, No. 1 Baylor 77
No. 2 Louisville 84, No. 3 Middle Tennessee 68
March 19
No. 2 Oklahoma State 71, No. 3 Stanford 65
No. 2 Utah 95, No. 3 LSU 71
No. 5 Washington vs. No. 1 Saint Mary’s (11 p.m. ET)
No. 4 Western Kentucky vs. No. 1 USC (11:30 p.m. ET)
NIT Quarterfinals Schedule
March 20
No. 4 Penn State vs. No. 2 Marquette (7 p.m. ET)
No. 4 Mississippi State vs. No. 2 Louisville (9 p.m. ET)
March 21
No. 2 Oklahoma State vs. No. 4 Western Kentucky/No. 1 USC
No. 2 Utah vs. No. 5 Washington/No. 1 Saint Mary’s
See updated bracket here, via Turner.
Monday Recap
Oklahoma State 71, Stanford 65
The second-seeded Oklahoma State Cowboys booked their place in the quarterfinals with a 71-65 win over the third-seeded Stanford Cardinal.
Oklahoma State trailed 47-42 entering the fourth quarter. An 11-4 run to open the final frame helped the Cowboys take a two-point lead, 53-51, with seven minutes, 18 seconds left in the game.
After Stanford briefly retook the lead, junior guard Tavarius Shine put the Cowboys back ahead 55-54 with 6:15 remaining. The home team remained on top until the final buzzer.
Stanford was its own worst enemy. The Cardinal committed 19 turnovers and sent the Cowboys to the free-throw line 23 times. Stanford’s six assists also illustrate how poorly the team was moving the ball on the offensive end.
Stanford senior forward Michael Humphrey closed out his career with a monster performance (15 points, 20 rebounds), which can’t be said of fellow senior Dorian Pickens. Pickens finished 3-of-13 from the field for 11 points.
Senior guard Jeffrey Carroll had a game-high 26 points for Oklahoma State and led the team in rebounds (seven), while senior guard Kendall Smith chipped in with 19 points.
Utah 95, LSU 71
The No. 2 Utah Utes led 30-11 after the first quarter and didn’t look back as they cruised past the No. 3 LSU Tigers, 95-71.
It was a team effort from Utah, as all five starters scored in double figures, and 10 different players had at least one made field goal. The Utes also shot 57.9 percent from the field and 51.9 percent from three-point range.
Junior guard Sedrick Barefield led the team with 17 points, and the senior duo of Tyler Rawson (12 points, seven rebounds and five assists) and David Collette (12 points, five rebounds and three assists) had solid showings.
Tremont Waters scored a game-high 19 points, but the freshman guard struggled to find his stroke. He shot 6-of-16 from the field and hit just one of his eight attempts from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard Skylar Mays also had 16 points, but the combined work of he and Waters wasn’t enough to keep LSU’s season alive.