March 17, 2024

Runnin' Rebels Appearing In Postseason For First Time In 11 Years

LAS VEGAS – The UNLV men’s basketball team has accepted a bid to the National Invitation Tournament and will play a first round game at Princeton on Wednesday at 5 p.m. PT. The matchup, which will be held at Jadwin Gymnasium, will be televised on ESPN+.

The Runnin’ Rebels’ trip to New Jersey will mark their first game in the NIT since 2009 and first postseason appearance overall since competing in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

The Runnin’ Rebels (19-12), who are unseeded in the 32-team event, have won 10 of their last 13 games but fell in overtime in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Tournament to San Diego State, 74-71, on Thursday. UNLV finished in fourth place in the MW this season with a 12-6 mark.

Princeton (24-4) is a No. 2 seed in the NIT after winning the regular-season Ivy League title with a 12-2 record in conference play. The Tigers entered their league tournament on a nine-game win streak but lost to Brown, 90-81, in Saturday’s semifinals.

Jadwin Gymnasium, located on Princeton’s campus, is a multi-purpose arena opened in 1969 and seats 6,854.

This will mark the 11th all-time appearance in the NIT for UNLV, which has an 8-11 record in the long-running postseason event. In their most-recent NIT game, the Runnin’ Rebels lost at Kentucky, 70-60, in the first round played on St. Patrick’s Day 2009. UNLV’s best showing came during its first appearance in 1980 when it advanced to the semifinals in New York.

UNLV is 3-1 all-time against Princeton. Two of the meetings came in the NCAA Tournament, a 68-56 first-round UNLV win in Salt Lake City in 1984, and a 69-57 first-round UNLV loss in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1998. UNLV also defeated the Tigers, 69-35, at the Thomas & Mack Center on Dec. 19, 1990, and won, 76-66, in the most recent meeting on Dec. 3, 1999, at the Food Lion/MVP Classic in Charlotte.

The winner of the UNLV at Princeton game will face the winner of No. 3 seed Providence vs. Boston College in the second round, which will be held at a location to be determined on either March 23 or 24.