2013 NIT bracket and scores: Baylor, Iowa advance to championship game

The NIT title will be up for grabs on Thursday night.

By Scott Coleman@scottcoleman55 Apr 2, 2013, 11:57pm EDT

The Baylor Bears and Iowa Hawkeyes came close to reaching the NCAA Tournament last month. Now, they'll have a chance to salvage their season with an NIT championship on Thursday night.

On Tuesday, the Bears and Hawkeyes advanced to the championship round with a couple of impressive showings on the hardwood. Baylor, led by senior point guard Pierre Thomas' double-double, edged BYU by a score of 76-70. Iowa moved out to an early lead over Maryland and never looked back, picking up the 71-60 win in rather convincing fashion.

On paper, this appears to be a pretty even matchup. Kenpom ranks the Hawkeyes as the 21st best team in the nation, aided greatly by a top-20 defense that has been solid all season for coach Fran McCaffery. Baylor is ranked 36th, although a top-20 offense has kept them in most of the games they've played this season. It will be interesting to see which team controls the pace of the game.

The title game is scheduled for Thursday, April 4 at 9 p.m. ET. It will be televised on ESPN and be streamed online through WatchESPN.

The full, updated bracket can be found here.