Indiana Basketball Earns No. 1 Seed In NIT, Will Host St. Francis (PA)
IU missed out on the NCAA tournament but will still have a postseason opportunity.
The Hoosiers on Sunday night received a No. 1 seed in the NIT and will open tournament play Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall against eighth-seeded Saint Francis (PA). ESPN will televise the contest, and the winner will face the winner of Providence-Arkansas.
“First, it is an honor to earn an invitation to post season play of any kind and our program will treat it as such," IU head coach Archie Miller said in a statement. “We look forward to the opportunity to be a #1 seed in the NIT and our goal is to win and take advantage of the experiences we can gain as a team.”
Indiana has played the NIT five times, most recently 2017 when it fell to Georgia Tech in Atlanta after declining to host the contest at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Prior to that, IU also played in the NIT in 1972, 1979, 1985 and 2005. It is 8-4 overall in the annual postseason event.
This year's NIT will experiment with rules modifications for the fourth time in five seasons:
• The 3-point line will be extended by approximately 1 foot, 8 inches to the same distance used by FIBA for international competition (22 feet, 1.75 inches).
• The free throw lane will be widened from 12 feet to 16 feet, consistent with the width used by the NBA.• The shot clock will reset to 20 seconds after an offensive rebound instead of the full 30 seconds.
• Team fouls will reset at the 10-minute mark of each half for the purpose of determining free throws and one-and-one free throws will be eliminated. Teams will shoot two bonus free throws after the fifth team foul of each 10-minute segment. Additionally, teams will be awarded two bonus free throws after the second team foul committed under two minutes remaining in each half if that foul occurs before the fifth team foul of the segment. In each overtime period, team fouls will reset, and teams will shoot two free throws beginning with the fourth team foul or the second team foul committed under two minutes remaining if that comes before the fourth team foul of the overtime period.
Should it advance, IU as a No. 1 seed has the ability to host all of its games leading up to the NIT semifinals, which take place April 2-4 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The complete NIT bracket can be seen below.
This story will be updated.
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