Pac-12 

Stephen Vilardo’s Tuesday Pac-12 NIT Stat Previews

The postseason gets underway for the Conference with three teams in the NIT
, 3 min read
WSU’s Efe Abodidi and the Cougars hope to extend their season with a win over Santa Clara in the NIT tonight. | Associated Press

Posted on March 15, 2022


  By Stephen Vilardo, SuperWest Sports

Pac-12The Pac-12 had a memorable spring a season ago, and has a chance to leave another lasting impression this year.

The postseason gets underway for the Conference with three teams in the NIT this evening.

All three games are on the 4/5 line, with Washington State and Colorado hosting while Oregon is the visiting 5-seed.

Oregon Ducks Logo Pac-12Oregon at Utah State
Oregon will get things started against Utah State in Logan, Utah. The Ducks are making their 12th trip to the NIT, where they own a 14-12 record.

UO has ended up in Madison Square Garden for the Final Four of the tournament on three occasions, most recently in 2004. The Ducks also made it to the Big Apple in 1975 and 1999.

This will be the eighth time the Ducks have played a road contest, compiling a 3-4 mark in those outings. In NIT openers, the Ducks are 7-4.

Oregon’s Eric Williams Jr. | John Locher/Associated Press

Utah State is 2-9 all-time in NIT, last appearing in the tournament in 2008. This will be the fifth time the Aggies have hosted an NIT game in Logan. USU has yet to win a home game in this tournament.

The Aggies have not won an NIT game since 1960. Utah State went 4-11 against teams playing in the postseason this year.

Utah State is looking for their 10th win at home this season, should they get a W over Oregon it will mark 28 straight seasons of at least 10 wins at home for USU.

The last time a Pac-12 team visited the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum was in 2013-14, when USC visited Logan and USU was a 78-65 winner.

Santa Clara at Washington State
Washington State is the 4-seed and hosts Santa Clara in the opener.

This will be the ninth time the teams have met on the hardwood and the Cougars are 3-0 when hosting the Broncos, recording a 5-3 edge all-time in the series.

All-time in the NIT, the Cougs are 7-5 including going 3-1 in 2011 as they made a run to New York and the semifinals.
WSU’s Andrej Jakimovski | Associated Press

This is the fifth time the Broncos are appearing in the NIT. Santa Clara is 2-4 all-time in the tournament. Their last win was in 1984 over Lamar.

With 21 wins this year, Santa Clara now has two 20-win seasons in the last three years for the first time since 2010-11 through 2012-13.

The Broncos have posted four-straight winning seasons, their longest stretch since Dick Davey led the team to seven-straight from 1994-95 through 2000-01

St. Bonaventure at Colorado
Colorado welcomes St. Bonaventure to Boulder in another 4-seed vs 5-seed game.

This is the 12th time the Buffs have taken part in the NIT, going 13-10 with a championship in 1940 to go along with a runner-up in 1938. CU added a pair of Final Fours in the event in 1991 and 2011.

In 1940, the Buffs were the first team to play in both the NIT and NCAA Tournament in the same season

Colorado’s Nique Clifford | John Locher/AP

Colorado has reached the postseason in 10 of 11 seasons under Tad Boyle. CU has won five of their last eight in the NIT.

The Buffs sit at 21 wins on the season, tied for the eighth-most in school history and just three shy of the most in a single season (24 in 2010-11 & 2011-12).

St. Bonaventure makes its 17th appearance all-time in the NIT after finishing the season as winners in eight of their last 10. The Bonnies won the 1977 edition of the tournament.

Follow Stephen on Twitter @StephenVilardo and his organization @SERCenter.

Visit his website at sercstats.com.



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