Florida State was able to shake off the disappointment of missing out on the NCAA tournament long enough to knock off Florida Gulf Coast in the NIT's opening round and will face Georgetown in Tallahassee on Monday. Aaron Thomas paced the Seminoles in their opening-round win, scoring 22 points, including 14 in a row in the second half. "Whatever tournament we're in," Thomas told Seminoles.com, "let's just go all out and play hard."

A semifinal berth is on the line when Penn State visits Siena on Monday in the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational. The winner will even its record at .500 as well as advance to the Final Four of the sport’s third-most prestigious postseason tournament. The Saints have won five of their last six games after defeating Stony Brook in their CBI opener while Penn State edged Hampton 69-65 in its first outing.

Feeling they were snubbed by the NCAA tournament selection committee, Southern Methodist players have not hid the fact that they are using the NIT to prove themselves. After disposing of UC Irvine handily, 68-54, in the first round, the No. 1 seeded Mustangs will try to make their case again when they host fifth-seeded LSU on Monday night. The game is sold out, the eighth sellout this season at Moody Coliseum for the Mustangs, who are 16-1 at home.

Texas A&M ended the regular season by blowing late leads against Missouri and Auburn to drop to ninth in the SEC standings and then lost to Missouri in overtime of the conference tournament opener. The Aggies got new life with a berth in the College Basketball Invitational and they'll try to continue their turnaround Monday when they visit Illinois State for a quarterfinal. Texas A&M has had five days off since winning its tournament opener, 59-43 over Wyoming.

Arkansas looks to avenge an earlier loss to California on Monday when the teams meet in Berkeley in the NIT's second round. Both teams opened tournament play in impressive fashion, with No. 2 seed California cruising to a 77-64 win over Utah Valley and third-seeded Arkansas routing Indiana State 91-71. The Golden Bears are hoping to have senior forward Richard Solomon, the Pac-12’s leading rebounder, back in the lineup after he missed the first-round game due to a concussion.