Don't miss out on any of our exclusive football, basketball and recruiting coverage. Click here to get your 30-day free trial!

The Hoosiers take on St. Francis (PA) in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Tuesday in the first round of the NIT.

Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET and will be aired on ESPN.

TheHoosier.com has gathered previews and predictions for the game below.

Stu Jackson, TheHoosier.com: TheHoosier.com NIT Preview: Indiana Vs. Saint Francis (PA)

1. IU's attitude and effort -- This seems really silly to include, but I still think it's worth noting. Indiana players were confident in their NCAA tournament chances last week and will now be playing in a consolation postseason event. Will they play with the same passion they showed toward the end of the regular season, or will they look flat and lackadaisical like they did against Ohio State and several others this season?

2. Attacking the paint -- Saint Francis ranks 253rd out of 353 Division I teams when it comes to defending inside the arc. Considering that these teams matchup up fairly evenly and in some instances have distinct size advantages, there's no reason for IU to have a poor shooting night in and around the paint.

3. Who emerges? -- The benefit of any extra postseason games is the added practice and live game time which helps a young team develop additional chemistry. It will be interesting to see if any young players show flashes of what they can bring next season.

Mike Miller, The Bloomington Herald-Times: 4 storylines for IU’s game vs. St. Francis

4. Making the most of it -- St. Francis was the top team in the Northeast Conference during the regular season, and advanced as far as the league’s tournament championship game. Now the Red Flash will strive to play deeper into March. This week marks the program’s first NIT appearance since 1958, a drought that ended with the help of an eight-game winning streak during the middle of conference play. St. Francis posted the league’s most efficient offense, per KenPom.com, turning the ball over on only 17.1 percent of its possessions inside conference play, while shooting 37.9 percent from beyond the arc against Northeast Conference opponents.

Alex Bozich, Inside the Hall: What to expect: St. Francis (Pa.)

The regular season champions of the Northeast Conference, Saint Francis (Pa.) is making its first NIT appearance since 1958. The Red Flash lost 85-76 to Farleigh Dickinson on March 12 in the NEC tournament championship game.

While Saint Francis played a tough non-conference slate with games at Buffalo, UCLA, North Carolina and Virginia Tech, it didn’t beat a team ranked inside the top 200 of the KenPom ratings all season.

Like most smaller conference teams, Saint Francis is small on stature and relies heavily on its guards for production.

NEC player of the year Keith Braxton is the clear standout on the roster and the junior guard averages a team-best 16.2 points per game. Braxton is 6-foot-5, 208 pounds and does a solid job of drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line. His free throw rate (FTA/FGA) is 49.4 percent and he’s knocking down 76.6 percent of his attempts from the line.

TheHoosier.com Staff Predictions

Jon Sauber: Indiana 91, St. Francis (PA) 64

Stu Jackson: Indiana 90, St. Francis (PA) 65

KenPom

Indiana 82, St. Francis (PA) 62 (96 percent chance Indiana wins)

Thrill Score: 13 (Last among Tuesday's 15 games)

ESPN

Indiana 95.6 percent

----

• Talk about it inside The Hoops Forum or The Football Forum

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Follow us on Twitter: @IndianaRivals

• Like us on Facebook.