Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
NIT – Finals
Tip-off: Thursday, 9:05 p.m. ET
Line: Stanford -1.5

Stanford and Miami battle for the NIT title when the teams meet at Madison Square Garden Thursday.

Stanford has played very well throughout the NIT tournament, winning four straight games SU and covering in three of those contests. The Cardinal have held their opponents to under 43% shooting in four straight games and that type of defense will make it tough for any of their opponents to deal with. Miami, meanwhile, has covered in three straight NIT tournament games and the team has held its opponent to under 40% shooting in all of those contests. The Hurricanes are facing a different animal in this Stanford offense and will need to find a way to get stops, even with some of their key players missing. Stanford’s games have gone Under the total in three of its past four and Miami has gone Under in two straight contests now. The Cardinal are 15-5 ATS after two straight games with nine or less offensive rebounds over the past two seasons. Miami, meanwhile, is 45-25 ATS after four or more consecutive wins since 1997. The Hurricanes are also 34-21 ATS when playing only their second game in a week over the past three seasons. C Grant Verhoeven (Hip) and G Malcolm Allen (Wrist) are out indefinitely for Stanford and G Angel Rodriguez (Wrist) is doubtful for Miami, which is already without C Tonye Jekiri (Concussion).

Stanford has been a solid offensive team this season, scoring 72.2 PPG (56th in NCAA). The squad will need to get hot against Miami on Thursday, as the Hurricanes play very good defense. The Cardinal will, however, need to step it up on defense. G Chasson Randle (19.4 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.3 SPG) is this team’s best player on offense. Randle lit up Old Dominion last game, scoring 24 points and also grabbing four rebounds in 37 minutes of action. Randle is an excellent outside shooter (36% 3PT) and once he gets hot it’s nearly impossible to guard him. He’ll need to have one more good performance in order to get Stanford an NIT championship. G Anthony Brown (14.9 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 2.6 APG) had 14 points on just five shots against Old Dominion, going 3-for-3 from the outside and really making all the right plays. Brown is this team’s x-factor, as he makes it very difficult for opponents to put too much focus on stopping Randle. C Stefan Nastic (13.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.0 BPG) is a rock in this Stanford lineup. He had 17 points, six boards and three blocks against Old Dominion in the semis and will need to dominate Miami on Thursday. The Hurricanes lost their starting center and Nastic will have to be very aggressive against an undersized Miami frontcourt.

Miami has been a very good defensive team all season, allowing just 63.2 PPG (87th in NCAA). It hasn’t been as good offensively though, but will fortunately be up against a Stanford team that really struggles on the defensive side of the ball. G Angel Rodriguez (11.9 PPG, 3.9 APG, 1.8 SPG) has not played since the opening round of this tournament, but there is a slight chance he gives it a go on Thursday. His team can really use him, as he is the heart and soul of this Hurricanes squad. G Sheldon McClellan (14.4 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.9 APG) has been playing very well for Miami in Rodriguez’s absence. McClellan has scored 16 points in back-to-back games and had 11 rebounds against Temple. He has been inconsistent all season, but he’s on the right track now and is showing a real sense of urgency. C Tonye Jekiri (8.7 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 1.4 BPG) was Miami’s best shot-blocker and rebounder, but he suffered a concussion last game and will not be on the court for this one. G Davon Reed (8.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG) is not a big man, but he did fill some of the void left by Jekiri against Temple. Reed had seven rebounds and three blocks in the game and if he can be that active defensively then maybe Miami can get away with playing a small-ball lineup against Stanford. The Cardinal does, however, have a talented big man in Nastic and Miami will need to find a way to neutralize him.