For the third time in program history, the William and Mary men’s basketball team was selected to take part in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) on Sunday evening. Amid a number of fans at a selection show watch party on campus, the Tribe was announced as one of 32 teams in the 78th annual event and will travel to face the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Tuesday, March 17, at 8:15 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3. Click HERE for the 2015 NIT bracket.
For ticket pricing and information, fans are asked to call the W&M Ticket Office beginning at 10 a.m. on Monday at (757) 221-3340. More information on watch parties for the NIT will be available on TribeAthletics.com.
The Green and Gold earned the Colonial Athletic Association’s automatic bid to the NIT thanks to winning its first regular season title in 17 years. W&M is the No. 7 seed in its portion of the draw, while Tulsa is the No. 2. The winner of the Tribe-Golden Hurricane match-up will take on the winner of No. 3 seed Murray State and No. 6 seed UTEP. The NIT second round will be on either March 20, 21, 22 or 23. The NIT Quarterfinals are set for March 24 and 25 with the semifinals to follow in Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, March 31. The NIT Championship Game will be on Thursday, April 2. All 2015 NIT games will also include two experimental rules. Teams will compete using a 30-second shot clock instead of the current 35-second shot clock. The 31 games of the NIT will also have a four-foot restricted-area arc as opposed to the current three-foot arc.
The Tribe posted its second straight 20-win season for the first time since 1951. W&M tallied a 12-6 CAA ledger and was the No. 1 seed in the league tournament for the first time in school history. The Green and Gold advanced to the championship game of the CAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last eight years.
W&M head coach Tony Shaver was recently named one of 16 finalists for the CollegeInsider.com Skip Prosser Man of the Year award. The Tribe led the CAA with three players on the all-league teams. Along with being a First Team All-CAA pick for the second straight season, senior Marcus Thornton became the first CAA Player of the Year in W&M history. Junior Terry Tarpey was named the CAA’s Defensive Player of the Year as well as being a Second Team All-CAA honoree. Sophomore Omar Prewitt rounded out the All-CAA honors with a third team nod.
Tulsa finished second in the American Athletic Conference this season at 14-4 and advanced to the semifinals of the league tournament. The Golden Hurricane posted a 22-10 record and will play in its 11th NIT. W&M and Tulsa have met on just one previous occasion with the Golden Hurricane downing the Tribe, 79-60, as part of the First Tulsa Classic in 1986.
The 2015 NIT bid is the third postseason berth in W&M history. The Tribe was also selected to the 1983 NIT where the Green and Gold dropped an 85-79 decision at Virginia Tech. In 2010, W&M earned an at-large bid to the NIT, and despite hitting a school-record 16 3-pointers in a highly entertaining game, fell at North Carolina, 80-72.
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