From Hinkle Fieldhouse, on the campus of Butler University, the NIT semifinals will take place Tuesday night. Game one will feature the Utah Utes against the Indiana State Sycamores. The Utah Utes are the 2nd seed in their region of the NIT. The Utes are 22-14, and have won three straight to get to this game.
For Indiana State, they were the top seed. The Sycamores were one of the top teams left out of the NCAA Tournament. Indiana State is 31-6 on the season, and have won nine out of their last ten games.
Indiana State is -2.5 in this game over Utah.
Utah Utes from Pac-12
The Utah Utes in the NIT have wins over UC Irvine, Iowa and VCU. All three of those wins came at home. In the Pac-12 tournament, the Utes smoked Arizona State, before losing to Colorado. During the NIT run, Utah is scoring 83 points per game. During the regular season, they scored closer to 73 points per game.
In the recent win over UVC, Branden Carlson led the team in scoring. Carlson was one of three guys to score in double digits. The big game for Utah came from Deivon Smith. Smith recorded a triple double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists in the game.
Utah started the season with three straight wins. The Utes then fell in back to back games to Houston and St. John’s. Utah went into Pac-12 play with just those losses.
Loaded Indiana State Team
There has been a lot of talk about head coach Josh Schertz and his Indiana State Sycamores. They won the Missouri Valley Regular season title, but lost to Drake in the conference tournament. The Sycamores in NIT play have downed SMU, Minnesota and Cincinnati.
During the tournament, Indiana State is scoring 84 points per game. On the season, the Sycamores are up to 84.6 per game. Indiana State is one of the best shooting teams in the nation; making 50.4% from the field, and nearly 11 three pointers made per game. Indiana State is also one of the best free throw shooting teams, at 79.7%.
The top scorer for Indiana State this season has been Robbie Avila. During the NIT, the big man has scored 13, 11 and 22. In the win over the Bearcats, his 22 was a game high, along with 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Ryan Conwell is next for the Sycamores, and he has been terrific, averaging 22 points per game in the postseason.
Trees Top Utes
We love the story of the Indiana State Sycamores. They have been fun, and have played great basketball. The Sycamores are mostly at home here, playing in their home state. They are going to have a massive crowd comparable to the Utes here.
All signs point towards Indiana State coming away with a win and reaching the title game of the NIT. That is what we will take. It was a good season for Utah, but it will end with 22 losses. Our final bet for this game is the Indiana State Sycamores -2.5 over the Utah Utes on Tuesday.
Enjoy the game and good luck!
