Here’s how to watch Sunday’s NIT Tournament game between Belmont and Georgia Tech online.
The Belmont Bruins had an excellent season in the Ohio Valley conference. They went 22-5 overall, and rolled through the conference schedule with a 15-1 record, five games ahead of the next closest team. But their NCAA tournament hopes were dashed when they fell to Jacksonville State in the first round of their conference tournament – the team that would eventually go one to represent the conference.
They’ve found their consolation in the NIT tournament. They rolled against Georgia in their first round game, winning by a score of 78-69. Belmont is a strong offensive squad, led by the interior stylings of Evan Bradds. Bradds plays almost exclusively at power forward for the Bruins, and makes his living on a steady diet of post-ups, rebounds, and free throws. He was among the most efficient high usage players in the country, and makes Belmont a dangerous opponent for everyone.
Georgia Tech had an up and down campaign in the ACC. While they were never expected to really contend in the conference, they scored a number of quality wins early on in conference play, takking down North Carolina, Clemson, Florida State, and Notre Dame. Josh Pastner had them playing incredible defense, and enough shots were falling.
It fell apart a bit during a 3-6 finish to their ACC regular season. Stretches like that are to be expected for a team that ranked 272nd on offense in all of Division I, but it was an unfortunate path after such a promising start. That defense, though. Pastner had his crew playing on the defensive end at an incredible level – they finished the year as the 6th best defense in the country.
They truly excel at blocking shots – their 15.7 percent rate is top-4 in the country, and they’re excellent at 2-point defense. They’re led on that end by the big man rotation of Quinton Stephens, Josh Okogie, and Ben Lammers. Lammers especially is the anchor at the back, swatting almost 10 percent of all shots while he’s on the floor.
Date: Sunday, March 19
Start Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Location: Atlanta, GA
Venue: McCamish Pavilion
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Tune in tomorrow at noon to see who will take this clash between NIT underdogs, as 6-seed Georgia Tech takes on 7-seed Belmont.