Illinois and UCF will battle with a chance to move on to New York in the 2017 NIT Tournament on Wednesday night.
The 2017 NIT Tournament has been unpredictable thus far through the beginning of the quarterfinals. Every time it appears a team is the new favorite, they end up falling and a new team arises. With a chance to go to the semifinals in New York, two more teams will advance on Wednesday night.
Illinois and UCF will square off in the NIT Quarterfinals in Orlando. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN 2 and can be also caught on the WatchESPN app. These two teams certainly have a great shot at making a run at winning the tournament.
Date: Wednesday, Mar. 22, 2017
Start Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Location: Orlando, FL
Venue: CFE Arena
TV Info: ESPN 2
Live Stream: WatchESPN
For both of these teams, the games start and end with their star guards. Malcolm Hill is the driving force behind the Fighting Illini’s offense and B.J. Taylor is the go-to player in crunch time for UCF.
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The Knights have played very well at home this season while Illinois has struggled on the road. That could prove to be in the Knights’ favor as they look to advance. However, they shouldn’t count on winning the game because Illinois struggles on the road.
If the NIT has taught us anything, it’s that trends don’t carry over into this tournament. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets only had two road wins going into Tuesday night’s action against Ole Miss. That didn’t stop them from pulling the upset and winning. The Knights can’t fall in the same trap the Rebels did.