NIT Consolation Brackets: North Texas' Mitchell Finally Gets Ball

Before the main action resumes Wednesday, the teams eliminated from the main bracket all squared up to get the most out of their tournament commitment. Only a few mid-majors could capitalize on the extra chance for a win.

NIT Season Tip-Off: Pittsburgh 78, Lehigh 53

Pittsburgh will head to Madison Square Garden to continue on the the semifinals of their early season tournament after knocking off Lehigh on Tuesday.

The Field for Madison Square Garden is Set in NIT Season Tip-Off

Three mid-majors and a Division II team had a chance to get to Madison Square Garden Tuesday night. Only one accomplished the feat. Given that we told you about that one, let's look at the other three contests.

Delaware Headed to New York City for NIT Semifinals

Delaware took out Virginia on Tuesday night to advance to the NIT semifinals. The worst part is that I found myself rooting for the Blue Hens to pull off the upset. I should go hand in my DAC Pack lifetime member card now.

NIT Season Tip-Off: Robert Morris 70, Fordham 58

The Colonials put things together and picked up their first win of the season in the consolation game of the NIT Season Tip-Off mini-tournament at the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA

Getting Over Your Hoops Overload: Your Tuesday Watch List

After a marathon of games, it would be forgivable if you didn't want to watch college basketball tonight. But that would be like giving up at mile 25. Here are five games to keep you glued to hoops through the stroke of midnight.

NIT Season Tip-Off: Lehigh 89, Robert Morris 60

The Mountain Hawks took some time to warm up, but gradually put away a Robert Morris team that appeared most definitely over-matched.

CJ McCollum Shines Against Robert Morris

Lehigh's point guard and likely NBA lottery pick made a great demonstration of why he has that status last night against a lesser light in Robert Morris.

North Texas Loses to D-II Alabama-Hunstville in NIT

The details of the game are still shrouded in mystery since apparently everyone in Manhattan, Kan., fell asleep during their trouncing of Lamar, but North Texas has lost 78-75 to Alabama-Huntsville.

Lost, as in out of the NIT Season Tip-Off. As in lost to a Division II team that they should have handled.

As in WOW WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?!?!

Alabama-Hunstville, the perpetrator of this mess, will now take on Kansas State in the second round for a chance to go to Madison Square Garden, and Tony Mitchell and North Texas will be playing Lamar for nothing.

This was Mitchell's best chance to perform in front of a television audience, especially with a very good team on the other side of the ball.

Now before we write off the Mean Green, they were without Brandan Walton, and last I heard, Chris Jones wasn't playing either just seemed like he was out based on his poor stat line (Justin Patton was also out for UNT). Hunstville is no pushover either. It is a power in D-II and is the first non-Division I team invited to play in this tournament for a reason.

Even so, North Texas should have won this game, especially with a future pro on the roster.

But this is what you get in November.

Penn Taken Down By Delaware, 84-69

There was a television timeout with 7:33 remaining in the first half, and there was a television timeout with 11:42 remaining in the second half. In the 16 minutes of game time between those two stoppages, the Penn Quakers were 6-for-19 from the field and 9-for-15 from the free throw line.

In that same time span, Delaware went 13-for-25 from the field and 13-for-17 from the charity stripe. So, not surprisingly, Penn went from trailing by two (24-22) to trailing by 20 (64-44), and the game was ostensibly over.

Penn got very strong performances from Fran Dougherty and Miles Cartwright, but nobody else chipped in anything significant, and you can't really expect to beat a talented team like Delaware without a true team effort.

Neither Devon Saddler nor Jarvis Threatt shot well from the field (a combined 6-for-25) for Delaware (continuing the trend from Saturday), but they made up for it at the free throw line (18-for-23), and freshman Terrell Rogers came off the bench to give the Hens four players with double-digit scoring in the 84-69 win.

Fairfield's Aim Goes Awry, Stags Fall to Virginia

Remember that 6-for-11 shooting from 3-point range that Fairfield had in the first half against Virginia? Along with strong rebounding, it was all that was keeping the Stags close to the Cavaliers in the opening round of the NIT.

Well, that aim got off when Fairfield moved to the opposite end of the floor. The Stags shot just 1-for-10 from long range in the second half and Virginia caught a little bit of momentum to down Fairfield 54-45. The Cavaliers will move on to face the winner of Penn and Delaware.

It wasn't just the long range shooting that failed the Stags, it was shoot from anywhere. In total, they made just five shots after the break, and shot 20.8 percent from the floor. Virginia wasn't shooting much better (33.3 percent), but it it hard to overcome such a dismal performance from Fairfield.

Josip Mikulic finished with 13 to lead Fairfield, and Desmond Wade and Derek Needham each finished with 10 in the loss. Virginia's Joe Harris came out of the break hot, and had 15 points to lead all scorers.

70 Shots Later, Cleveland State Takes Out Bowling Green in NIT

Bowling Green's A'uston Calhoun scored 30 points and helped push Cleveland State to overtime in the opening round of the NIT Season Tip-Off. It wasn't enough as Tim Kamczyc led the Vikings past the Falcons 79-73

NIT Season Tip-Off: Panthers Handle Fordham , 86-51

In a little bit of mid-major bonus basketball, the Pittsburgh Panthers faced off against a very overmatched Fordham squad in their second home game.

Fairfield Stags Stabbing Virginia From 3

Fairfield wasn't the team we thought would have a chance to make it to Madison Square Garden, but if the Stags keep shooting as well as they did in the first half, they could be the uninvited guest at the NIT party.

The Stags were 6-for-11 from 3-point range in the first half helping them to lead Virginia 30-29 at halftime in the opening round of the NIT Season Tip-Off. Desmond Wade went 3-for-5 from deep and Josip Mikulic was perfect on his three attempts during the opining 20 minutes.

Virginia shot 50 percent in the first half, but most of their damage has come off the bench. No starter has more than four points for the Cavaliers, who are led by Evan Nolte with nine.

Part of the Stags success so far has been keeping Virginia off the offensive glass. Mikulic had three defensive boards in the first half, while the Cavaliers were able to grab just one of their offensive rebounding opportunities.

The winner of this game will face the winner of the opener between Penn and Delaware.

We Have Brackets! NIT Season Tip-Off Field Set

The NIT Tip-off bracket has been released and we break down which mid-major team has the best shot to reach Madison Square Garden. And could North Texas' Tony Mitchell make an early national name for himself?