While the NCAA tournament receives the lion’s share of the attention this time of year, the Postseason NIT’s had some good moments as well. One night after Miami and Stanford clinched their spots in next week’s semifinals at Madison Square Garden, Old Dominion did the same with a 72-69 win over Murray State.
The hero was guard Trey Freeman, who answered a Jarvis Moss game-tying three with a banked-in three a couple steps inside of half court after time expired. Freeman wasn’t even a sure bet to play in the game, as he was dealing with an ankle injury suffered in practice prior to the Monarchs’ second round win over Illinois State. Freeman finished Wednesday’s game with 25 points.
As a result of Freeman’s heroics Jeff Jones’ team, which was closer to the NCAA tournament bubble than many gave them credit for in the days leading up to Selection Sunday, is two wins away from capping their second season in Conference USA with a postseason tournament title.
As for Murray State, this is the second heartbreaking finish of the month for Steve Prohm’s team with the first coming on a Taylor Barnette three-pointer in the OVC title game. That shot sent Belmont to the NCAA tournament and ended the Racers’ hopes of going to the NCAA tournament. Freeman’s shot Wednesday night ended their season.
Old Dominion will take on Stanford Tuesday night in New York City.
Video credit: ESPN