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For the second time in three seasons, Indiana will participate in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). The Hoosiers, one of the first four teams in the NCAA tournament, are in the front row and will receive Saint Francis (Pa) Tuesday night at the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
The game will switch to 19 hours. AND we have ESPN with Dave Feldman and Dan Dakich at the call:
Indiana's 12-2 debut appeared to be the precedent of a return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2016.
The Hoosiers, however, have lost 12 of their next 13 games and are now relegated to a secondary playoff tournament for the second time in the third season.
After refusing to host an NIT match in 2017, Indiana chose to host the match and could play up to three games at Bloomington.
Given that this coincides with the NCAA Tournament, the national interest for the NIT is essentially nonexistent and it will certainly be interesting to see what kind of crowd Indiana is able to attract on Tuesday night . Tickets are $ 20 (free for students) and parking is also free. However, the last time Indiana hosted a NIT match, only 5,113 spectators were present, a record for a men's match at Assembly Hall.
The other elephant in the room regarding the NIT is: what will be the interest of the players to participate? In the last three NITs, only one seed # 1 has qualified for the semifinals at Madison Square Garden.
MEET THE RED FLASH
Northeast Conference regular season champion St. Francis (Pennsylvania) made his first appearance in the NIT since 1958. Red Flash lost 85-76 to Farleigh Dickinson on March 12 in the NEC tournament championship game.
Although Saint Francis played tough games in Buffalo, UCLA, North Carolina and Virginia Tech, he did not beat a top-ranked KenPom rankings team all season.
Like most small conference teams, Saint Francis is small and has a lot on his guard for production.
The NEC year player, Keith Braxton, stands out clearly from the lineup and the junior guard averages 16.2 points, the best of the team, per game. Braxton is 6 feet 5 inches and weighs 208 pounds. He is very good at shooting fouls and reaching the free-throw line. His free throw rate (FTA / FGA) is 49.4% and he eliminates 76.6% of his attempts from the line.
Braxton is one of four guards starting with NEC Coach of the Year Rob Krimmel. Jamaal King, a 5-foot-10 lead, is Red Flash's second-leading scorer. He averages 15.4 points per game and leads the assist with four assists. King shoots 36% out of 3 against the Division I competition.
Isaiah Blackmon, a 6-foot-1 junior, is the third guard of Saint Francis with a two-digit average. He also shot 36% of 3 against Division I teams. Andre Wolford, a 6-foot-2 senior, comes mainly from the bench and averages 8.7 points, but only draws 36.2% of the field.
Randall Gaskins, a 6-foot-3 junior, is the fourth goalie starting for the Red Flash. Gaskins is a 3-point shooting game of 42.9%.
At the front, the main names to know are Luidgy Laporal, a 6-by-9 senior, and Mark Flagg, a 6-by-9 sophomore. Flagg leaves the bench, but is the most productive player in the game. duo. Flagg averaged 6.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.
OVERVIEW WITHOUT TEMPO
In the profile of Saint Francis, very little suggests that he is able to play with Indiana if the Hoosiers are stuck and ready to play.
The Red Flash takes care of the ball and has the 105th best running percentage of the country, and also excels on the offensive glass, where he pockets 33.8% of the shots missed. That number ranks 29th in the country, according to Pomeroy's estimates.
Beyond, Saint-François ranks among the last 25 at the national defensive level and is also in the top 30 at the national level in terms of percentage of defense at 2 points.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
The reality of the NIT is that it is filled with teams that did not expect or wish to be present. This description, however, does not correspond to Saint Francis, who has not reached this event for more than 60 years.
For Indiana fans, however, an appearance at NIT for the second time in three years and at a failed NCAA tournament for the seventh time in eleven years is a test that gives to reflect on the current state of the program.
Indiana is a 20-point favorite in this contest, according to KenPom, and a 21-point favorite according to Sagarin's ratings. It's a game that Hoosiers should win, but that assumes that UI will be engaged and ready to compete.
If Indiana manages to qualify, the Hoosiers will face either Arkansas in a rematch of November, or Providence, who finished 7-11 in the Big East.
(Photo credit: Saint Francis (Pa.) Athletics)
Classified in: Saint Francis Red Flash
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