Browsing: National Invitation Tournament

Considering the Bears’ lofty preseason ranking of No. 19 in the country, it’s difficult to see this season as nothing short of bittersweet.

Sure, it’s fantastic for head coach Scott Drew and seniors Pierre Jackson and A.J. Walton to go out on top in with an NIT championship, but the NIT was never the goal for this group of Bears.

NEW YORK – The Baylor Bears won the NIT championship by defeating Iowa 74-54 Thursday and cut down the nets in victory at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. The NIT trophy is Baylor’s first-ever NIT Championship, and the Bears also became the first Big 12 team to ever take home the NIT hardware.

The Baylor men’s basketball team will take on the Iowa Hawkeyes tonight in the NIT Championship game at Madison Square Garden. The game will tip off at 8 p.m.

The Hawkeyes are 25-12 on the season and are coming off of a 71-60 win over Maryland.

The Baylor Bears defeated the BYU Cougars 76-70 Tuesday in the semifinal round of the NIT in Madison Square Garden. No. 2 seed Baylor and No. 3 seed BYU were in a closely contested game until Baylor’s senior superstar guard Pierre Jackson decided to go off for 15 second-half points to push the Bears into the NIT championship game.

The Baylor Bears defeated the Arizona State Sun Devils on Friday night at the Ferrell Center 89-86 to advance to the third round of the NIT. Senior point guard Pierre Jackson put on a show for the home fans by scoring 26 points and racking up a career-high 16 assists in the victory.

The Baylor Bears defeated the Long Beach State 49ers 112-66 Wednesday at the Ferrell Center and advanced to the second round of the NIT.

“I thought it was a great way to start a tournament,” head coach Scott Drew said. “Obviously we did a lot of things well, starting with 31 assists and only 14 turnovers, shooting 63 percent and holding them to 33 percent. I thought we played like a weight was off of our shoulders and we really made a lot of extra passes and played well. In the last two games at home, I think we’ve really played well at home.”

The fourth time won’t be a charm for Baylor men’s basketball this year. Hoping to make their fourth straight postseason appearance, the Bears found out Sunday their season is finished without an NCAA tournament or NIT bid.