NIT Championship Game Predictions: Wichita State vs. Alabama

Written by Jake Thompson
Thursday, 31 March 2011 19:19

Predictions are ready in the NIT Championship Game between Wichita State and Alabama.

The Wichita State Shockers (28-8) come into the 2011 NIT Championship Game as small favorites for their 7:00 PM ET clash with the Alabama Crimson Tide (25-11).  Alabama and Wichita State will play on the NIT Championship Game on a neutral court at Madison Square Garden in New York, and the Shockers’ 14-4 record away from home easily bests the 6-11 mark that the Crimson Tide put up this year.

These two teams don’t have a storied history against one another and Alabama claimed the most recent meeting, a 60-58 victory way back in 1997.  Wichita State advanced to the NIT Championship Game with wins over Nebraska (76-49), Virginia Tech (79-76), Charleston (82-75), and Washington State (75-44), while Alabama made their way to this point by beating Coastal Carolina (68-44), New Mexico (74-67), Miami Florida (79-64), and Colorado (62-61).  We’ll preview both NIT Championship Game teams and our final score predictions will hopefully peg down the eventual winner of this tournament.

While Wichita State is healthy, Alabama is without guard Andrew Steele (4.0 PPG, 2.6 RPG) because of a concussion and currently list forward Jason Carter (1.5 PPG, 1.9 RPG) as questionable because of an undisclosed injury that has kept him out of action since mid-April.  The Crimson Tide hasn’t shot well from 3-point range this season but they’ve gotten enough shooting in the paint to allow them to score 67.1 points per game.  Alabama is going against a strong Wichita State defense that defends the perimeter well and also only allows opposing teams to score 61.9 points per game on 40.9% shooting this season. 

Wichita State’s offense is much strong and scores 72.7 points per game on 46.6% shooting from the field this year.  The Shockers have much more accurate long range shooters and will be tested by a terrific Alabama defense that gives up just 59.2 points per game on 38.3% shooting.  Wichita State has been playing better on both ends of the game recently and also should have a rebounding, depth, and turnover edge in the NIT Championship game.

Alabama’s plodding style can throw many teams off of their game but I think that the Shockers have the necessary weapons to make life tough on the Crimson Tide tonight.  Alabama simply doesn’t have the shooters to score big points and I think the rebounding dominance for Wichita State will amount to some easy put-backs that will affect the normally strong Crimson Tide defense.  Look for the Shockers to take home the NIT Championship game while covering the low line that Las Vegas has made them the favorites by.

Wichita State 68
Alabama 61