(St. Louis, MO) – A pair of number two seeds in the National Invitation Tournament are just to the east and west of the Gateway City. Missouri and Illinois are both heading to post season play in the NIT and both are second seeds in their respective brackets.
Mizzou (22-11) hosts Davidson (26-8) and Illinois (19-14) travels to Boston (24-10). Being second seeds the Tigers and Illini earned home games in this opening round, but State Farm Center is being renovated so John Groce’s team is hitting the road.
It is the sixth straight season Missouri is playing post-season basketball. They haven’t been in the NIT since 2005 and carry a 1 and 7 NIT record into the game. Third year Head Coach Frank Haith has guided the Tigers into post-season play every year in Columbia and owns a 70 and 27 record with the Tigers. Last year the Tigers were second round losers in the NCAA Tournament.
John Groce
The Illini seem to be playing their best basketball right now. They’ve won five of their last seven games and Illinois is playing post-season basketball for the 13th time in the last 15 years. The Orange & Blue own a 7 and 4 in NIT. Illinois was in the NCAA’s last year losing in the third round.
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Three more road wins so far in @ValleyHoops as @BradleyUMBB @BelmontMBB & @UIC_MBB capture road wins. Looks like @DrakeBulldogsMB will do so too. #FatherHarry
Well @RacersWBB followed the men's example and swept Iowa in the @ValleyHoops race! Racers are 6-1 & if @BelmontWBB holds on to their Iowa sweep, the Bruins and Racers will be tied for first. What a trip for those two teams! #FatherHarry
After today's action, @EIUWBB is 8-0 in @OVCSports play. 4 teams @usiwbb @TTUWBB @LRTrojans @LindenwoodWBB are tied at 6-2. Six other teams are under .500. Great race to the finish lies ahead. #FatherHarry
Really entertaining game between @BelmontMBB & @UEAthletics_MBB. Under four minutes left in a one point game. Gabriel Pozzato back in the Aces' lineup. Rogers is playing like I've expected. Triples are dropping. It's fun and @kylejpeach bringing it on #ThePlus #FatherHarry
