The 2017 NIT bracket is now complete after TCU ran through Georgia Tech in the final on Thursday night
Anyone looking for the 2017 NIT bracket to play out chalk all the way through was in for a rude awakening. While college basketball fans often talk of the upsets in the NCAA Tournament, there were far more of them in the NIT this year. That played out early and then all the way through. Ultimately, it left fans with a No. 4 seed in the TCU Horned Frogs taking on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, a No. 6 seed, in Thursday night’s final.
Leading up to the final, the duo of Ben Lammers and Josh Okogie had been coming up huge for Georgia Tech. That was not the case against a stifling TCU defense on Thursday night, however. The duo finished just a combined 5-of-23 from the field and with only 20 points between the two of them.
Meanwhile, TCU’s stars were sure to rise to the occasion—and not just on the defensive end.
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Vladimir Brodziansky stepped up big on the interior for the Horned Frogs, contributing 18 points and six boards to the cause. However, it was their star guard in Kenrich Williams that came up the biggest, like he had throughout the NIT. Williams torched the Yellow Jackets for 25 points, 12 rebounds and four steals on the night to lead the way to the emphatic 88-56 victory to clinch the championship.
Now that TCU have been crowned champions of the tournament, let’s then take a look at the final 2017 NIT bracket to see how it all played out:
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The fact is, most people probably didn’t have TCU getting even into the quarterfinals as they had to play Iowa in the Round of 16. But that’s the beauty of the NIT and basketball in March. These teams all take their play up a notch, and the Horned Frogs did that resoundingly so. Now they have the hardware to prove it.