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2002 National Invitation Tournament

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2002 National Invitation Tournament
Season2001–02
Teams40
Finals siteMadison Square Garden
New York City
ChampionsMemphis (1st title)
Runner-upSouth Carolina (1st title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coachJohn Calipari (1st title)
MVPDajuan Wagner (Memphis)
National Invitation Tournaments
«2001 2003»

The 2002 National Invitation Tournament was the 2002 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition.

Selected teams

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Below is a list of the 40 teams selected for the tournament.[1]

School Conference Record Appearance Last bid
Arizona State Pac-10 14–14 8th 2000
Ball State MAC 20–11 4th 1998
Bowling Green MAC 24–8 13th 2000
Butler Horizon 25–5 7th 1999
BYU Mountain West 17–11 9th 2000
Dayton Atlantic 10 20–10 20th 2001
Detroit Horizon 18–12 8th 1999
Fresno State WAC 19–14 6th 2001
George Mason Colonial 19–9 2nd 1986
Georgia State A-Sun 20–10 1st Never
Houston C-USA 18–14 7th 1993
Iowa Big Ten 19–15 3rd 1998
Louisiana-Lafayette Sun Belt 20–10 4th 1985
Louisiana Tech WAC 20–9 5th 1992
Louisville C-USA 18–12 13th 1985
LSU SEC 18–14 4th 1983
Manhattan MAAC 20–8 17th 1996
Memphis C-USA 22–9 15th 2001
Minnesota Big Ten 17–12 10th 2001
Montana State Big Sky 19–9 2nd 1987
New Mexico Mountain West 16–13 16th 2001
Princeton Ivy 16–11 5th 2000
Richmond Atlantic 10 19–13 6th 2001
Rutgers Big East 18–12 12th 2000
Saint Joseph's Atlantic 10 18–11 7th 1996
South Carolina SEC 18–14 8th 2001
South Florida C-USA 19–12 7th 2000
St. Bonaventure Atlantic 10 17–12 15th 2001
Syracuse Big East 20–11 10th 1997
Temple Atlantic 10 15–14 13th 1989
Tennessee Tech Ohio Valley 24–6 2nd 1985
UC Irvine Big West 21–10 4th 2001
UNC Greensboro Southern 20–10 1st Never
UNLV Mountain West 20–10 6th 1999
Utah State Big West 23–7 6th 1995
Vanderbilt SEC 16–14 9th 2000
Villanova Big East 17–12 15th 2001
Virginia ACC 17–11 9th 2000
Wagner Northeast 19–9 2nd 1979
Yale Ivy 20–10 1st Never

Georgetown declines invitation

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Big East Conference member Georgetown originally was among the teams selected, but declined to take part. Hoyas head coach Craig Esherick explained that Georgetown's home court, the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., was booked to host the East Regional of the 2002 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, meaning that accepting the NIT invitation would have required the Hoyas to play on the road in the West for two weeks, forcing his players to miss many of their classes. After playing a similar schedule the previous season during the 2001 NCAA tournament, Esherick had concluded that missing so many classes to play in the NIT, a tournament which did not offer a chance for a national championship, was not in the best interest of Georgetown's players.[2]

Esherick's controversial decision meant that Georgetown had no postseason play for the first time since the 1973–74 season. Georgetown became the first team to turn down an NIT bid since Louisville turned down a bid to the 1987 NIT.[3]

Bracket

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Below are the four first-round brackets, along with the four-team championship bracket.[1]

Opening Round First Round Second Round Quarterfinals
            
Syracuse 76
St. Bonaventure 66
Syracuse 66
Butler 65
Butler 81
Bowling Green 69
Syracuse 62
Richmond 46
Minnesota 96
New Mexico 62
Minnesota 66
Richmond 67
Richmond 74
Wagner 67
Richmond 63
Montana State 48
Montana State 77
Utah State 69
Opening Round First Round Second Round Quarterfinals
            
Ball State 98
South Florida 92
Ball State 75
Saint Joseph's 65
Saint Joseph's 73
George Mason 64
Ball State 75
LSU 65
LSU 63
Iowa 61
Ball State 47
South Carolina 82
UNLV 96
Arizona State 91
UNLV 65
South Carolina 75
South Carolina 74
Virginia 67
Opening Round First Round Second Round Quarterfinals
            
Temple 81
Fresno State 75
Temple 65
Louisville 62
Louisville 66
Princeton 65
Temple 63
Villanova 57
Villanova 84
Manhattan 69
Villanova 67
Louisiana Tech 64
Louisiana Tech 83
Louisiana–Lafayette 63
Louisiana Tech 83
Vanderbilt 68
Vanderbilt 59
Houston 50
Opening Round First Round Second Round Quarterfinals
            
Tennessee Tech 64
Georgia State 62
Tennessee Tech 68
Dayton 59
Dayton 80
Detroit 69
Tennessee Tech 80
Yale 61
Yale 67
Rutgers 65
Tennessee Tech 73
Memphis 79
BYU 78
UC Irvine 55
BYU 69
Memphis 80
Memphis 82
UNC Greensboro 62

Semifinals & finals

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Semifinals Finals
      
Syracuse 59
South Carolina 66
South Carolina 62
Memphis 72
Temple 77
Memphis 78
Third place game
   
Syracuse 54
Temple 65

See also

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References

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