Boyle Believes Buffs Deserve NIT Bid
March 16, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
LAS VEGAS — While Colorado's hopes for an NCAA Tournament berth were ended with Friday night's 66-61 loss to Washington in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals, head coach Tad Boyle still expressed optimism that his team would be selected for an NIT berth.
The Buffs will learn their fate Sunday evening. The 68-team NCAA field will be announced beginning at 4 p.m. Sunday; with the 32-team NIT bracket to be revealed later that evening.
Boyle said there is no doubt in his mind the Buffs belong in the NIT field.
"Especially if you look at what this team has done since January 31st," Boyle said emphatically. "In the month of February and certainly in the month of March we have grown by leaps and bounds. A lot of times you get judged by what you do in November or December. But especially with a young team you see the growth that these guys have made and there's 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament and 32 in the NIT. Top hundred, are we a top hundred team in the country? Absolutely. No doubt in my mind now. Doesn't always work,because of the way the automatic bids work, but, yeah, I do think we've played well enough."
The Buffs did indeed finish strong, winning eight of their last 10 regular season games, then winning a pair of conference tournament contests before finally falling to the Huskies. CU also placed two players on the first team all-Pac-12 team, sophomores Tyler Bey and McKinley Wright IV.
Extending CU's season would likely be a boost for this young CU team, one that started a freshman, three sophomores and a junior over the last couple weeks of the season. But Boyle has also said he would not accept an invite to one of the other tournaments, such as the CBI, if the Buffs don't get an NIT bid.
There's no doubt, though, that the Buffs would like to keep playing.
"It would be great for us, considering how far we've come as a team and how much we love each other and love playing with each other and love playing under this coaching staff," Wright said of a possible postseason bid. "It would mean a lot to us, but we don't have any control over what's going on, whether it's the NIT or the big tournament. We'll find out Sunday, but I want to keep playing with these guys as long as possible."
Wright, who suffered a shoulder injury in CU's first game against Washington this season in January, faces surgery as soon as the season is over. But he would like the Buffs to get a few more games under their belts before he has a procedure that could sideline him anywhere from three to six months.
An NIT berth, he said, would help the team gather momentum for next year.
"We know what we have here and the great players we have here," he said. "We showed the team we are the second half of the season. Next year it just lets us know that next year we can't drop the games that we did early in this season like the San Diegos, Indiana States and Hawaiis (all losses). We know the type of team we are, we just have to jump on people's necks from the start next year."
Wright had a stellar defensive performance against Washington's Pac-12 Player of the Year, Jaylen Nowell. Wright limited Nowell to just 14 points on 6-for-15 shooting.
"I like the challenge of taking the team's best player," Wright said. "The last two times we played Washington I didn't start on Nowell. I went to the coaching staff and said I wanted Nowell. That's just who I am. I want to do whatever I can to help this team win."
Wright had a tough night on the offensive end, finishing with seven points on 1-for-10 shooting, with his first and only field goal not coming until the game's final seconds.
"Obviously I struggled on the offensive end tonight," he said. "I know that, everybody knows that. It's frustrating because I know if I make a couple shots, we'll be closer. If I have a few less turnovers, we could have won this game. But it is what it is. I know these guys got my back. I'm just going to get back to the drawing board, work on my craft and get stronger."
NIT SETUP: The 32-team bracket will be separated into four quadrants, each seeded No. 1 through No. 8. Games will be played at campus sites until the semifinals, which are at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The first round of the NIT is on Tuesday, March 19 and Wednesday, March 20. The second round will then be played between Thursday, March 21 and Monday, March 25. The quarterfinals are scheduled for Tuesday, March 26 and Wednesday, March 27. Action then moves to New York City for the semifinals on Tuesday, April 2. The NIT title game, also at Madison Square Garden, is set for Thursday, April 4.
BUFFS BITS: Colorado is now 16-3 this year when leading at the half. … The loss ended a five-game CU win streak. … Colorado is now 13-7 in Pac-12 tourney play and 1-2 in semifinal games. … The Buffs scored 14 of their 28 second-half points from the free-throw line. … CU's Bey moved to ninth place on Colorado's single-season rebounds list with 322 with his 11 boards. His 22 points gave him his 15th double-double of the season, tied with USC's Nick Rakocevic for the most in the Pac-12 this year.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
