2002_National_Invitation_Tournament

2002 National Invitation Tournament

2002 National Invitation Tournament

University basketball tournament in the United States

The 2002 National Invitation Tournament was the 2002 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition.

Quick Facts Season, Teams ...

Selected teams

Below is a list of the 40 teams selected for the tournament.[1]

More information School, Conference ...

Georgetown declines invitation

Big East Conference member Georgetown originally was among the teams selected, but declined to take part. Hoyas head coach Craig Esherick explained that Georgetown's home court, the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., was booked to host the East Regional of the 2002 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, meaning that accepting the NIT invitation would have required the Hoyas to play on the road in the West for two weeks, forcing his players to miss many of their classes. After playing a similar schedule the previous season during the 2001 NCAA tournament, Esherick had concluded that missing so many classes to play in the NIT, a tournament which did not offer a chance for a national championship, was not in the best interest of Georgetown's players.[2]

Esherick's controversial decision meant that Georgetown had no postseason play for the first time since the 1973–74 season. Georgetown became the first team to turn down an NIT bid since Louisville turned down a bid to the 1987 NIT.[3]

Bracket

Below are the four first-round brackets, along with the four-team championship bracket.[1]

Opening Round First Round Second Round Quarterfinals
            
Syracuse 76
St. Bonaventure 66
Syracuse 66
Butler 65
Butler 81
Bowling Green 69
Syracuse 62
Richmond 46
Minnesota 96
New Mexico 62
Minnesota 66
Richmond 67
Richmond 74
Wagner 67
Richmond 63
Montana State 48
Montana State 77
Utah State 69
Opening Round First Round Second Round Quarterfinals
            
Ball State 98
South Florida 92
Ball State 75
Saint Joseph's 65
Saint Joseph's 73
George Mason 64
Ball State 75
LSU 65
LSU 63
Iowa 61
Ball State 47
South Carolina 82
UNLV 96
Arizona State 91
UNLV 65
South Carolina 75
South Carolina 74
Virginia 67
Opening Round First Round Second Round Quarterfinals
            
Temple 81
Fresno State 75
Temple 65
Louisville 62
Louisville 66
Princeton 65
Temple 63
Villanova 57
Villanova 84
Manhattan 69
Villanova 67
Louisiana Tech 64
Louisiana Tech 83
Louisiana–Lafayette 63
Louisiana Tech 83
Vanderbilt 68
Vanderbilt 59
Houston 50
Opening Round First Round Second Round Quarterfinals
            
Tennessee Tech 64
Georgia State 62
Tennessee Tech 68
Dayton 59
Dayton 80
Detroit 69
Tennessee Tech 80
Yale 61
Yale 67
Rutgers 65
Tennessee Tech 73
Memphis 79
BYU 78
UC Irvine 55
BYU 69
Memphis 80
Memphis 82
UNC Greensboro 62

Semifinals & finals

Semifinals Finals
      
Syracuse 59
South Carolina 66
South Carolina 62
Memphis 72
Temple 77
Memphis 78
Third place game
   
Syracuse 54
Temple 65

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Tournament Results (2000's) at nit.org, URL accessed November 5, 2009. Archived 11/5/09
  2. [2]
    Horn, David, "Georgetown's Esherick the Class Act of March," The Michigan Daily, March 13, 2002.
  3. [3]
    Associated Press, "Georgetown Declines NIT Bid," The Daily Utah Chronicle, March 12, 2002. Archived February 3, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
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