Washington Huskies Basketball

The NIT is rolling right along and the Washington Huskies are looking like clear favorites to win the whole thing.

The team has cut down their opponents left and right on the way to the semifinals, which has to be bitter sweet after winning the regular season Pac-12 title.

However, this is a team of experienced seniors and young winners who may elect to turn professional after the competition, meaning they have no intentions of losing the rest of their collegiate careers.

Washington will match up with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers on Tuesday night and the winner will advance to the championship. It would be quite an upset if UM were able to knock Tony Wroten Jr., Terrence Ross and the rest of the Huskies out of the event.

These two stars have been lighting it up and Ross has averaged 26.3 points in three NIT games thus far while Wroten has been playing great all-around basketball and facilitating the offense.

Minnesota doesn’t have a true go-to guy like Washington does, but junior forward Rodney Williams has stepped up over the past three contests, averaging 22 points. It will be priority No. 1 to stop him and force his teammates to contribute more.

Should Washington advance, and they likely will, the team will face the winner of UMass and Stanford—two evenly matched teams that don’t measure up to the might of the Huskies.

Neither will have much of a shot should Minnesota fail to stop them.

Keep it tuned here at Bleacher Report for the latest NIT coverage, news, analysis and opinion.    

The NIT will own the spotlight as Madison Square Garden welcomes the final four teams left breathing in the exciting tournament. The Washington Huskies will be the last team dancing when it's all over. 

It all goes down on Tuesday, March 27th as Washington takes on Minnesota and fellow Pac-12 survivor Stanford goes to battle against UMass. 

It's all about reputation and not about consolation heading into Madison Square Garden's less-lauded Final Four. 

The NCAA Tournament is coming to a close just a few days from now, and that means a huge shadow will be cast over the NIT when it culminates just prior. 

When you consider the Washington Huskies and the road they took to get here, you have to consider they could very well be in a much different state had they finished off the field at the Pac-12 tournament and completed a fantastic late-seaosn push to March Madness. 

The Huskies fell short and had to lick their wounds in the opening rounds of the NIT. It is very clear what kind of mentality that makes up this version of the Huskies. 

They could have easily packed their bags and called it a season after their March Madness snub. Instead, they have decided to take it up a notch and dominate the field in the most celebrated consolation prize in hoops. 

Whether it's against Northwestern or their conference rivals Oregon Ducks, Washington has proved to be the better team with backcourt phenoms that will slice through the Final Four shortly. 

Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten make this team an exciting watch but also an unrelenting offensive force that the teams they've faced in this tournament have found impossible to stave off. 

Ross has dominated in the NIT, averaging 26.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. It would be enough if the rest of the remaining field would have to contend with Ross, but he has a backcourt star that makes it hard to close out on just one player. 

Wroten can dominate just as much as his colleague and showed as much against the Oregon Ducks when he dropped 22 points and grabbed seven boards. 

This team is playing with heart and purpose, and their complement of talent makes them the most dangerous team remaining in the NIT. 

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The Washington Huskies enter the NIT Tournament as the only No. 1 seed in the Final Four, and are considered to be the favorites for good reason.

After beating the University of Texas at Arlington, No. 4 Northwestern and a very close match with No. 4 and archrival University of Oregon, the Huskies have been playing hot ball since barely missing the bubble and not entering the 2012 NCAA March Madness Tournament.

The season could largely be considered a bust for Washington because they are “not in tournament” after having a much more successful season last year. Under Lorenzo Romar, the Huskies won the Pac-12 and finished with an impressive 24-11 record. They were a No. 7 seed in the tournament, and made it to the second round. They were ranked No. 23 in the nation, and were led by a young star named Isaiah Thomas Jr.

In 2009 to 2010, the Washington Huskies made it to the Sweet Sixteen and lost to No. 2 West Virginia.

Now that they’re in the NIT, however, it would be even more disappointing to lose now. While the tournament acts as a constellation prize and Washington can be considered a “basketball school” for all intents and purposes, the Huskies are undeniably the best team left in the NIT.

With Thomas now in the NBA on the Sacramento Kings, sophomore Terrence Ross and freshman Tony Wroten lead the Huskies.

With Vegas odds in their favor at plus-200, the next closest team to give Washington a run for their (and potentially your) money is Pac-12 rival, Stanford. In their previous meeting with Stanford, Washington decidedly won by a total of 76-63. In the game, Wroten dropped 21 and Ross scored 18. Wroten and Ross are each averaging 16 PPG on the season, and Abdul Gaddy led the team in assists with 5.2 apg.

On the other side of the ball, Aziz N’Diaye led Washington with 7.3 rpg. He also averaged a block per game.

Now, the Washington Huskies travel back to New York City and will play in Madison Square Garden to close out the end of this tournament. The last time that freshman Tony Wroten played at Madison Square Garden, he scored 24 points in an 86-80 loss to Duke.

In his most recent game, Wrotten scored 22 points against the Oregon Ducks and broke Isaiah Thomas’s scoring record of 541 points. Wrotten now has 551 points on the season.

On Tuesday, the Huskies will play No. 6 University of Minnesota on ESPN. As the best team in the tournament, now is not the time for them to mail in the rest of the season but rather man up and chalk this up as a moral victory and learning experience for a young and up-and-coming team.

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The Washington Huskies are primed to finish their run through the 2012 NIT with a championship win, and they are in the right mindset to do so.

They have been dominant, so far, through this tournament, and I don't see anybody that can stop them from capturing the title.

They've essentially rolled through their bracket—beating Texas-Arlington 82-72, Northwestern 76-55 and dangerous Oregon 90-86—on their way to the NIT's Final Four.

Now, all they have to do is pick up two more wins. One must come this Tuesday against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, and then the championship game against either UMass or Stanford.

They've got what it takes to win, and they have the right mindset to make it happen.

Remember, this is a team that won the Pac-12 in the regular season only to be bounced out in the conference tournament and left out of the 2012 NCAA tournament. This is a team that can play with the big-boys, but was relegated to the NIT.

How was this team able to move on from that disappointment and focus for the NIT? Dave Boling of The Bellingham Herald quotes head coach Lorenzo Romar on how he got his guys in the right mindset:

So, how did Romar coax them off the mat? He’s a little vague, and not interested in taking any bows.

“Oh, I don’t know … I think it’s a good group of guys who are pretty resilient,” Romar said after practice Saturday morning. “They were able to just turn the page and get that behind them. I think we had been working hard and we just tried to stay positive and explain how much fun this would be if you continue to win.”

This team is focused on making the best of the NIT, and as far as I'm concerned that means winning it all. They have the talent to do so, and they are focused on the task at hand.

The Huskies could have made a splash in the NCAA tournament if they were given the chance to do so, but none of that matters now. "Shoulda, coulda, woulda" does not seem to be what this team is about. Forget the past, there are brighter things to come in the future for this team.

Only two more games to go, and two more wins will bring them to their goal.

Sure, it wasn't what they were hoping for a couple weeks ago, but a champion in anything is still indeed a champion.

The Washington Huskies have business to do, and that is precisely why they will ignite Madison Square Garden for the NIT championship. 

The Huskies would mush rather be playing in a different Final Four, one that will play south in New Orleans. There is no hiding the fact that they nearly placed in the NCAA tournament and instead were given an NIT blow. 

There are two types of teams that play in the greatest consolation prize in college basketball. There are those that mope to a quick failure, further exacerbating a tumultuous season; and then there are those that embrace their lot and try their best to prove they are indeed a college basketball team of note. 

That is precisely what Washington is doing as they head further to the main prize: the chance to call themselves champions and prove the detractors wrong. 

Washington has regrouped since losing to Oregon State and has imposed their spirited backcourt against the NIT field. 

Terrence Ross has dominated, averaging 26.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. The offense comes through this high-flying guard who is not done playing basketball this season.

His partner in crime has been Tony Wroten. The team leader in points during the regular season was quiet through the first round and then burst onto the scene against Oregon in the second round.

Against the Ducks, Wroten dropped 22 points and grabbed seven boards, illustrating that the Huskies have the most dominant tandem left in the NIT.

It takes more than talent to win it all, and the Huskies tout an unwavering hunger to their list of attributes heading to Madison Square Garden.

Ross put it as simply as you can, via ESPN: "We're still upset that we get a (NCAA) bid and could have, but we all forgot about it and focused on this championship that we're after."

Washington still has a ways to go. they have Minnesota next and then the winner of Stanford vs. UMass to contend with, but they have the form, talent and mindset to see it through. 

The Huskies are out to prove themselves to the nation, and that makes them the most dangerous team left in the NIT.

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The Washington Huskies may have been omitted from March Madness, but they've come back with a vengeance in the NIT tournament.

The Huskies, led by stars Tony Wroten and Terrence Ross, are doing serious damage in the "consolation tournament," dropping 90 points on high-powered Oregon in the quarterfinals.

But Washington isn't just a two-man team. The Huskies have gotten big performances from Aziz N'Diaye, C.J. Wilcox, Darnell Gant and Abdul Gaddy throughout the tournament. Even though Wroten and Ross are undoubtedly their stars, there has been plenty of help from the supporting cast. In fact, without that supporting cast, Washington would have lost to Oregon.

The Huskies didn't exactly close their season off in style before the tournament. They lost to UCLA and Oregon State. But this team knows it had a chance at getting into the NCAA tournament, and Washington is playing like it.

The biggest threat figures to be Stanford, who I see knocking off Massachusetts in the semifinals. The Cardinal just destroyed a Nevada team I liked, getting big performances from Josh Owens and Chasson Randle and bench players Josh Huestis, Aaron Bright and Dwight Powell. The bench alone has a chance of upsetting Washington.

But I like Washington's star power better, boasting two potential first-round picks in the NBA draft, and the team is playing well together. Plus, the Huskies have a distinct rebounding advantage, ranked fifth in the nation in the regular season.

Washington has the look of a team that feels as if it was snubbed. Expect that to translate into an NIT tournament title.

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The oddsmakers have spoken, and Vegas has decreed that Washington is the most likely victor to emerge from the NIT. That, of course, spells bad news for Minnesota, which earned the right to face the Huskies in the semifinals after beating Middle Tennessee 78-72 on Wednesday.

The Huskies, the top seed in the tournament, seem to be dead set on proving they were overlooked for an at-large bid to the Big Dance, and Minnesota will represent another small obstacle on their road to redemption.

Washington has never won an NIT before and comes into the matchup 9-6 all-time against the Gophers. The Las Vegas odds say the Huskies are favored to win at plus-200, while the Gophers have the longest shot at victory at plus-550.

The Gophers have played good basketball of late, but they continue to have trouble convincing doubters that their six-game losing streak in mid-February was a fluke. Since losing to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament, Minnesota has taken down La Salle, Miami and Middle Tennessee en route to the NIT semifinals, winning by an average margin of 11 points.

Rodney Williams and Andre Hollins stepped up for Minnesota on Wednesday with 24 points each to complement the efforts of Elliott Eliason, who had 12 points and seven rebounds. However, beating Washington next week would require spectacular performances from all of them.

The Huskies struggled at the beginning of the tournament to hide their disappointment at being overlooked by the NCAA selection committee, sneaking by Texas-Arlington in the first round, 82-72. They rebounded quickly with a 76-55 drubbing of Northwestern and outlasted Oregon 90-86 to earn their second trip to Madison Square Garden this season.

Now that they've accepted their fate and let go of the disappointment they felt a couple of weeks ago, Washington is completely focused on winning.

Freshman guard Tony Wroten told the Associated Press, "Once the NIT selection was done, coach was telling us that, 'I know you don't want to be here but if you keep winning it's going to get more and more exciting.'"

After the tribulations this season has presented, Washington needs a little excitement. With only two wins standing in between the Huskies and a championship, their focus is bound to be sharper than ever.

It's better late than never for the Washington Huskies, who are rolling through the NIT on their way to the championship—a prize that will serve to bring back a modicum of respect for the program. 

With a backcourt that would have delighted in the madness of March, the Huskies have cruised through the initial rounds of the NIT tournament and just took down the Oregon Ducks, 90-86. 

They dispatched of Texas-Arlington to open the tourney and then cruised by Northwestern. Then came what would be the biggest test for the Huskies. 

If Washington was going to win it all, they had to get passed a dangerous Oregon Ducks team that has proved prolific in the past. 

The same formula was used to get over on the Oregon Ducks and keep the dream of redemption alive. The Huskies once again relied on Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten, who proved they were just as hungry as if they were playing deep into the NCAA Tournament. 

It doesn't pay to mope or even ponder what could have been because there is only one thing the Huskies can still guarantee, and that is hoisting a title at the end of an up and down season. 

The Huskies were left for dead before coming on strong to close out the season. Losing out on the Pac-12 bid left a bitter taste in the mouths of some very good players, and you can tell that Ross and Wroten are dying to make some good of their efforts. 

Ross has 24 points on 9-for-18 shooting while Wroten chipped in with 22 points on 6-for-15 from the field. The Huskies were not about to be turned away, not again. 

The NCAA snub is still fresh in the air, but those feelings are certainly being extinguished. Tony Wroten said as much, per ESPN. 

"Once the NIT selection was done coach was telling us that, `I know you don't want to be here but if you keep winning it's going to get more and more exciting.'"

If you want to know what this team is looking for now, it's really quite simple. Terrence Ross spells it out after another exciting win, via ESPN. 

"We're still upset that we get a (NCAA) bid and could have, but we all forgot about it and focused on this championship that we're after."

It's as deep as ripping back redemption and as simple as hoisting some hardware after a trying season. Either way, the Huskies are finally starting to have fun. 

When you are as talented as this team is, combining passion and frivolity is a dangerous combination for the rest of the field. 

A full breakdown of the NIT Bracket including scores can be found at the CBS Sports website. 

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The Washington Huskies are a very, very good offensive team, and those who have fallen prey to them thus far in the NIT can attest to that.

The Huskies dropped 82 points on Texas-Arlington, 76 points on Northwestern and held off a fellow offensive juggernaut in conference foe Oregon, beating the Ducks 90-86.

And there's only one team left in the tournament that can hang with U-Dub's offense. If you don't believe me, let's throw a little chart up here to back up my claim with the remaining teams in the NIT (and add some rebounding numbers while we're at it).

Team	Points Per Game	Rebounds Per Game
Washington	75.2	40.3
Stanford	70.5	37.0
Nevada	70.7	37.1
UMass	76.8	39.3
Minnesota	67.4	34.8
Middle Tennessee	71.9	34.9

UMass has been impressive in an incredibly tough draw to advance through the tournament, upsetting Mississippi State, Seton Hall and Drexel. They are dangerous right now and seem destined to meet Washington in the NIT final.

But UMass doesn't have the star power that the Huskies boast. Guards Tony Wroten (16.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 3.8 APG) and Terrence Ross (16.3 PPG, 6.4 RPG) are first-round NBA prospects and have each been on a tear in the NIT.

Ross has been a terror in the NIT, scoring 79 points in three games, while Wroten has been more subdued as a scorer but has 17 assists and 16 rebounds to go along with 33 total points.

Oh, and Washington was a huge NCAA tournament snub, becoming the first team to win a power-six conference regular-season title and not be selected for the tournament. Sure, the Pac-12 was down this year, but it's still an accomplishment to go 14-4 against conference competition, which the Huskies did.

So to summarize: high-octane offense, legitimate star power and oodles of motivation.

Yeah, the Huskies are set to earn themselves some NIT glory.

Hit me up on Twitter—I've tweeted from Lehigh's campus before. Seriously.

The teams left in the NIT bracket are trying to salvage missing out on an NCAA tournament berth. There are several teams that could earn their way to Madison Square Garden and, even better, an NIT title.

The NIT, much like the NCAA tournament, has not been devoid of upsets. There is only one No. 1 seed remaining in the field. The rest of the teams still fighting for an NIT title are seeded between No. 3 and No. 6.

Two NIT Elite Eight games were played last night to narrow the field down to its Final Four. Two more games will be played tonight to determine the last two teams that will play next weekend.

Here are the four teams with the best odds of standing under the confetti with the NIT championship trophy.

Washington Huskies

The favorite to win the NIT bracket has to be the one team with two perennial first-round picks in their starting lineup.

The Washington Huskies, led by point guard Tony Wroten Jr. and forward Terrence Ross, earned a trip to the NIT Final Four last night, outlasting the Oregon Ducks in a high-scoring, 90-86 affair.

The Huskies would’ve been NCAA tournament-bound if it wasn’t for a late two-game skid to finish the regular season. Now, as the overall No. 1 seed in the NIT tournament, they are the last No. 1 seed left and have the most impressive overall resume of the rest of the NIT contenders.

The road to the NIT championship goes through the Washington Huskies. They’ll need to keep their pedal on the gas to avoid any upsets in the tournament’s final weekend.

UMass Minutemen

The UMass Minutemen finished fifth in the A-10 this season, behind four NCAA tournament teams.

They’re continuing to show the conference strength this season with an NIT Final Four berth.

Led by mighty mite PG Chaz Williams, the Minutemen have reeled off three straight upsets in the tournament to reach the tournament’s final weekend. The sophomore guard has been spectacular in the tourney run, averaging 23 points and shooting over 50 percent from inside and outside the three-point arc.

Perhaps Williams has some Kemba Walker in him and can continue this postseason magic. UMass will play the winner of the Nevada vs. Stanford matchup tonight at 9 p.m. ET.

Stanford Cardinal

Johnny Dawkins’ second season as coach of the Cardinal has them on the upswing. They had a respectable 2011-12 campaign after the way Trent Johnson left this team in shambles towards the end of his tenure.

Even though it was a "down" year for the Pac-12, I see the advantages of playing at home being a huge factor. The Cardinal will be playing in Palo Alto tonight against Nevada for the chance to play at Madison Square Garden. 

While Nevada won their conference’s regular-season title, the Cardinal have yet to win anything yet. They’ll be more motivated to achieve a NIT Final Four berth than a Nevada team that missed out on an NCAA tournament berth. 

Led by senior Josh Owens and freshman Chassen Randle, the Cardinal's inside-out combo, Stanford will find a way to squeak out a victory against a tough-minded Wildcats squad.

Stanford could see Pac-12 foe Washington in the NIT final.

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 

Everybody loves a Cinderella team. The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders are my choice to be the bracket buster of the NIT tournament.

One reason the Blue Raiders are dangerous is they don’t know much about losing this season. They went 27-5 and finished with a 14-2 record in the Sun Belt Conference, not to mention their confidence is at an all-time high after upsetting Tennessee in the Volunteers’ home arena.

They’ll be facing off against Minnesota in the Elite Eight contest. The Big Six school may be the trendy pick, but Middle Tennessee knows how to beat bigger schools. They boast wins at UCLA and at Mississippi this season.

In addition, the Blue Raiders won’t even have to worry about playing on the road until the Final Four. Their matchup against the Golden Gophers tonight is at their home arena, which will be in full force for a chance at NIT glory.