Kentucky forward Willie Cauley-Stein (15) swipes the ball away from Vanderbilt forward Rod Odom (0) during their NCAA basketball game at the Southeastern Conference tournament Friday in Nashville, Tenn.NASHVILLE – Two minutes from the end, two minutes from Vanderbilt shocking Kentucky 64-48 in their SEC tournament quarterfinal Friday night, the Commodores fans began chanting, “N-I-T! N-I-T!”
It was almost assuredly meant to taunt the Big Blue Nation, which had overtaken more than two-thirds of Bridgestone Arena’s 18,160 seats for this contest.
But if UK’s loss prevents it from defending its NCAA title after falling to 21-11 for the season, the Commodores might also be making a case for the NIT if they don’t go on to repeat as SEC tourney champs.
They play the Missouri-Ole Miss winner in this afternoon’s semifinal round. Win that one and Vanderbilt would be eligible for an NIT bid, since it could finish no worse than .500 for the year. Were the ‘Dores to win the SEC tourney, they would receive the league’s automatic NCAA bid.
“We’re 16-16 and I don’t think we’ve even been a .500 team in about five months,” said winning coach Kevin Stallings, whose young squad really hasn’t stood at .500 since Jan. 2 following a 64-50 win over William and Mary.