2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/32905692114_199c01b144_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/33746962665_f1beb3392f_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/33746961655_5959efb504_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/33708056196_932339cb2e_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/33708044296_aac0072e7f_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/33708041896_012dc48759_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/33708034306_20ff2d51fb_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/33706323386_12a0d647ba_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/33619547581_c147f129a1_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/33619539101_d727d99a74_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/33619534271_951eb0d0d4_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/33364098910_aa08919724_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/33364063790_a7db575b61_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/33362270490_dbf4f4b518_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/33362265700_e6cd795cf7_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/32935649123_cfa1d3acb4_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/32935634503_cc932b63d6_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/32905719134_39307cb0fb_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) 2017 NIT Championship Game - March 30, 2017 - Madison Square Garden https://www.inthezone.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/33748742985_bb5e219b96_z.jpg (Photo by Catalina Fragoso - Double G Media) Previous Image Next Image info heading info content NEW YORK — In the culmination of the National Invitational Tournament, Madison Square Garden played host to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (21-15) and the TCU Horned Frogs (23-15). Despite being a championship game, the competitiveness of the game was almost non-existent, as an onslaught of three-pointers and dunks led to a 32-point blowout. Right from the start, Jamie Dixon’s men jumped out to a commanding lead by starting the game out on a 20-3 run in the first 6:38 of the competition, leaving Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner in a state of Deja Vu. “Well, they jumped on us early,” said Pastner. “We’ve been talking about our starts, and we’ve had great starts here in this run of the NIT. The last time we had a poor start was in the ACC Tournament versus Pittsburgh. They jumped on us, and since then, we had four great starts in.” Paster was spot on as TCU indeed jumped on Georgia Tech in the first half and carried a 38-27 lead into halftime. Even after halftime, an eerily similar second half ensued, and the Horned Frogs extended their lead en route to an 88-56 victory. For Jamie Dixon, winning the first NIT Tournament in school history and having a winning season after going 0-18 in conference play just a year ago makes the victory even sweeter. In the post-game press conference, Dixon wasn’t hesitant to show his thanks to his players who have stuck it out at TCU in an attempt to build a program. “They have committed to it (the program), and they have sacrificed, and you know, you need your seniors, and when you come to a program, it’s hard,” said Dixon.” “And they have been — they have had a different coach, obviously challenges, and they had to buy in for us to be successful.” Notably for TCU, star forward Kenrich Williams dropped his second straight double-double by putting up 25 points and 12 rebounds to lead TCU again, earning endless praise from coach Dixon. “So you’re seeing the numbers that he’s putting up,” posed Dixon. “His play down the stretch here has been unbelievable.” Without a doubt, TCU deservedly took home the NIT crown on Thursday night as they shot 51.5% from the field, forced 17 turnovers, and held Georgia Tech to a low 35.7% shooting percentage. But even with a trophy to conclude the year, Jamie Dixon still has his sights set on a NCAA Tournament appearance. “You know, I mean, as I said earlier, our goal is to get in the NCAA Tournament, go on runs in the NCAA Tournament. That’s what I’m used to doing. That’s always been our goal,” said Dixon. “But I guess you have to take steps, and this is a huge step.” In a brief overview, both Georgia Tech and TCU can hold their heads high heading into the offseason. Both teams were destined to fail this season, but both Pastner and Dixon have done a phenomenal job in starting to turn around a program, “a modern miracle” according to Pastner. Unfortunately for fans, this NIT Tournament did not bring us excitement as we hoped at The Garden. Games were not competitive and were lopsided in score. In a glimmer of hope, however, the game did end with an emphatic windmill slam by TCU guard Josh Parrish, maybe foreshadowing a more exciting tournament in a year’s time. Or, maybe not. Post Views: 1,614 The following two tabs change content below.BioLatest Posts Joshua Sampson Joshua is the NYC FC Beat Writer for DoubleGSports.com and contributes in others areas as well. Latest posts by Joshua Sampson (see all) The Annual TopSpin New York Charity Event is Yet Again a Smash Hit - December 7, 2017 Texas A&M Rides Strong Second Half to Win Legends Classic Over Penn State - November 22, 2017 Two Blowouts is All She Wrote: Three Takeaways from Night One of the Legends Classic - November 21, 2017 A Valient Fight To the Death: Three Thoughts On NYCFC’s 2-0 “Win” Over the Columbus Crew - November 6, 2017 Related TopicsCollege BasketballGeorgia TechJamie DixonJosh PastnerKenrich WilliamsMadison Square GardenNITNIT TournamentTCU Click to comment You must be logged in to post a comment Login Leave a Reply Cancel replyYou must be logged in to post a comment. 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