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Tuesday, March 14
Salt Lake City, Utah
8:00 PM
University of Utah
vs
Boise State
Utah to Host Boise State in First Round of NIT
3/12/2017 7:34 PM | Men's Basketball
Utes and Broncos set to tip-off at 8 p.m. at JHC on Tuesday
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Runnin' Utes (20-11) received a bid to play in the National Invitation Tournament and will host Boise State (19-11) at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Tuesday, March 14 at 8 p.m. MT. The 32-team bracket was announced Sunday night on ESPNU.
California, Illinois State, Iowa and Syracuse earned No. 1 seeds in the 32-team NIT field released Sunday. The field features 21 teams with at least 20 wins, 10 automatic qualifiers and representation from 20 of the 32 Division I conferences.
Utah earned the No. 3 seed in the Illinois State quadrant, while the Broncos are the No. 6 seed. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU. The winner between Utah and Boise State would go onto face the winner of No. 2-seeded Illinois and No. 7-seeded Valparaiso.
"It is a really good thing for this team to continue the season," said junior Kyle Kuzma. "This will be a great experience for us, as we are a young team and have a lot of younger guys that continue to grow. It is exciting that we can keep playing basketball."
Boise State finished third in the Mountain West Conference regular-season, going 19-11 overall and 12-6 in league-play. The Broncos went 0-1 in the conference tournament, falling to San Diego State in the first-round.
Utah and Boise State will meet for just the eighth time in the history of the series. Utah leads the all-time series 4-3, but the two squads have not faced each other since 2013. This will be the second-ever meeting between the two teams in the NIT Tournament. The Utes fell to the Broncos, 62-61, back on March 11, 1987, in a first-round game played in Boise, Idaho.
First-round play is scheduled for Tuesday, March 14 and Wednesday, March 15, with the second round running March 16-20. Quarterfinals will be held on March 21 and 22, and four teams will advance to New York City for the semifinals on Tuesday, March 28. The NIT will conclude with the championship game on Thursday, March 30. The semifinal and championship games will be played at New York's historic Madison Square Garden for the 80th year.
NIT games are being televised by ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3. Additional NIT information can be found on www.NCAA.com/NIT.
UTAH NIT HISTORY
This marks the 43rd post-season appearance in school history, and the 13th appearance for the Utes in the NIT. Utah will make its first appearance in the NIT Tournament since 2014.
The Utes are 11-11 all-time in the NIT. Utah won the NIT in 1947 as head coach Vadal Peterson's team defeated Kentucky (49-45) behind the play of Vern Gardner, who was named the tournament's MVP. The Utes reached the NIT Championship again in 1974, but fell to Purdue. Despite the loss, Mike Sojourner was named MVP.
In 1992, Utah lost in the semifinals to Notre Dame but won the third-place game against Florida. The Utes fell to Memphis in the first-round of the 1992 NIT Championship. The last time Utah played in the NIT, the Utes fell to St. Mary's in the first-round back in 2014.
This marks the fourth time a Utah program has hosted a game in the NIT. It is the first time the Utes have hosted a contest since 2001. Utah is 2-1 all-time when hosting a game in the NIT.
California, Illinois State, Iowa and Syracuse earned No. 1 seeds in the 32-team NIT field released Sunday. The field features 21 teams with at least 20 wins, 10 automatic qualifiers and representation from 20 of the 32 Division I conferences.
Utah earned the No. 3 seed in the Illinois State quadrant, while the Broncos are the No. 6 seed. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU. The winner between Utah and Boise State would go onto face the winner of No. 2-seeded Illinois and No. 7-seeded Valparaiso.
"It is a really good thing for this team to continue the season," said junior Kyle Kuzma. "This will be a great experience for us, as we are a young team and have a lot of younger guys that continue to grow. It is exciting that we can keep playing basketball."
Boise State finished third in the Mountain West Conference regular-season, going 19-11 overall and 12-6 in league-play. The Broncos went 0-1 in the conference tournament, falling to San Diego State in the first-round.
Utah and Boise State will meet for just the eighth time in the history of the series. Utah leads the all-time series 4-3, but the two squads have not faced each other since 2013. This will be the second-ever meeting between the two teams in the NIT Tournament. The Utes fell to the Broncos, 62-61, back on March 11, 1987, in a first-round game played in Boise, Idaho.
First-round play is scheduled for Tuesday, March 14 and Wednesday, March 15, with the second round running March 16-20. Quarterfinals will be held on March 21 and 22, and four teams will advance to New York City for the semifinals on Tuesday, March 28. The NIT will conclude with the championship game on Thursday, March 30. The semifinal and championship games will be played at New York's historic Madison Square Garden for the 80th year.
NIT games are being televised by ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3. Additional NIT information can be found on www.NCAA.com/NIT.
UTAH NIT HISTORY
This marks the 43rd post-season appearance in school history, and the 13th appearance for the Utes in the NIT. Utah will make its first appearance in the NIT Tournament since 2014.
The Utes are 11-11 all-time in the NIT. Utah won the NIT in 1947 as head coach Vadal Peterson's team defeated Kentucky (49-45) behind the play of Vern Gardner, who was named the tournament's MVP. The Utes reached the NIT Championship again in 1974, but fell to Purdue. Despite the loss, Mike Sojourner was named MVP.
In 1992, Utah lost in the semifinals to Notre Dame but won the third-place game against Florida. The Utes fell to Memphis in the first-round of the 1992 NIT Championship. The last time Utah played in the NIT, the Utes fell to St. Mary's in the first-round back in 2014.
This marks the fourth time a Utah program has hosted a game in the NIT. It is the first time the Utes have hosted a contest since 2001. Utah is 2-1 all-time when hosting a game in the NIT.
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