The NIT Tournament semis are live and Clemson is taking on SMU in the semifinals on ESPN2 and the game will be streaming online form the WatchESPN website in Madison Square Garden and the game starts up at 7 pm and gives Larry Brown a chance to get to a tournament final this season.
Southern Methodist comes in as one of the last teams left out by the NCAA tournament and they were ranked in the top 25 at one point, but the selection committee left them at home and now they are still alive in the NIT. The team comes in after winning against Cal and now Brown has the chance to show why the committee was wrong to leave his team out, as he said that SMU would treat the NIT with the respect it deserves and now they have the chance to get to the finals and they will matchup with either Florida State or Minnesota if they can win.
Markus Kennedy comes in for SMU after having a great game against Cal and he had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds and now they will matchup with the number three seed in Clemson. The Mustangs have had their best season in years with Brown and they come in after going 12-6 in the AAC and they went 26-9 overall and now has the chance to beat a top team in the NIT.
The Mustangs come into the game after averaging over 70 points per game this season and they ranked in the top 20 in field goal percentage and they shot nearly 49 percent from the field this season. The team is ranked 98th in rebounding and 35th in assists per game and they were also one of the best defensive teams in the nation, allowing just 62 points per game and that was good enough for the top 25. The team averaged over seven steals per game and they were in the top 60 in rebounding and they also average four blocks per game.
The team comes in after three straight wins in the tournament and that came after a loss to Houston to finish the season and they also lost to Memphis and Louisville and that was partly the reason they were left out of the tournament. The team beat UConn near the end of the season and the fact that they are still alive in the tournament says a lot and now Brown has the chance to get SMU to the finals.