The opening night of the 2025 NIT began with a theme of upsets. Kent State defeated No. 3 seed St. Bonaventure 75-56, and No. 4 seed Georgia Tech fell to Jacksonville State 81-64 at home behind 30 points from star guard Jaron Pierre Jr.
The Gamecocks will face the winner of No. 1 seed UC Irvine and Northern Colorado next. Georgia Tech was one of four power conference teams competing in this year’s NIT alongside Stanford, Oklahoma State and SMU.
The Golden Flashes dropped a bomb on the Bonnnies behind 14 points by VonCameron Davis. Davis was one of four Kent State players to finish with double-digit points in the win. The Golden Flashes face No. 2 Stanford, which defeated Cal State Northridge, in the next round.
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The headlining game of Wednesday’s slate will be No. 1 seed SMU hosting Northern Iowa. SMU missed out on the NCAA Tournament after going 23-10 in Andy Enfield’s first season with the program. No. 1 seed UC Irvine is also in action against Northern Colorado later in the evening.
Here is a look at the full bracket and dates:
2025 NIT key dates
First Round: March 18-19
Second round: March 22-23
Quarterfinals: March 25-26
Semifinals: April 1 (Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis)
Championship: April 3 (Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis)
All times Eastern
2025 NIT First Round schedule
Games in the first three rounds to be played at the higher-seeded team’s home arena unless noted
SMU Region
FIRST ROUND
No. 1 SMU vs. Northern Iowa | Wednesday, 7 p.m.
No. 2 North Texas vs. Furman | Wednesday, 8 p.m.
No. 3 Arkansas State 103, Saint Louis 78 | Recap
No. 4 Oklahoma State 89, Wichita State 79 | Recap
SECOND ROUND
TBD vs. No. 3 Arkansas State
TBD vs. No. 4 Oklahoma State
Dayton Region
FIRST ROUND
No. 1 Dayton at Florida Atlantic | Wednesday, 7 p.m.
No. 2 George Mason vs. Samford | Wednesday, 7 p.m.
No. 3 Bradley vs. North Alabama | Wednesday 8 p.m.
Chattanooga 109, No. 4 Middle Tennessee 103 (3OT) | Recap
SECOND ROUND
TBD vs. TBD
TBD vs. Chattanooga
Irvine Region
FIRST ROUND
No. 1 UC Irvine vs. Northern Colorado | Wednesday, 10 p.m.
No. 2 Santa Clara 101, UC Riverside 62 | Recap
No. 3 Saint Joseph’s vs. UAB | Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Jacksonville State 81, No. 4 Georgia Tech 64 | Recap
SECOND ROUND
No. 2 Santa Clara vs. TBD
Jacksonville State vs. TBD
San Francisco Region
FIRST ROUND
No. 1 San Francisco vs. Utah Valley | Wednesday, 11 p.m.
No. 2 Stanford 87, CSUN 70 | Recap
Kent State 75, No. 3 St. Bonaventure 56 | Recap
No. 4 San Jose State vs. Loyola Chicago | Wednesday 11 p.m.
SECOND ROUND
Kent State vs. No. 2 Stanford
TBD vs. TBD
