ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - In its first season of postseason eligibility, the University of St. Thomas men’s basketball team is still playing basketball in March.
St. Thomas earns NIT bid
What we know:
The Tommies were not one of 68 teams selected to the NCAA Tournament. They were, however, selected to participate in the 32-team National Invitation Tournament.
St. Thomas will face Seattle at 9 p.m. Tuesday in opening round action. The game will be aired on ESPN Plus, the network’s streaming service.
If the Tommies beat Seattle, they would face the winner of Auburn/Southern Alabama on either March 21 or March 22.
Tommies win 23 regular season games
By the numbers:
St. Thomas went 23-8 in the regular season, which was good enough to earn the No. 2 seed for the Summit League Tournament. The Tommies beat South Dakota State in their opening round game before losing in the semifinals to North Dakota on a last second free throw.
North Dakota State beat North Dakota in the conference title game to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
St. Thomas earned an invitation to the NIT after closing the Summit League Tournament with a NET ranking of 103. The Tommies were the highest-ranked Summit League team in the NET, and finished two places behind NCAA Tournament-bound and Big West champion Hawaii.
Why you should care:
This will be the men’s basketball program’s first appearance in a national postseason tournament since the department’s move to Division I.