Men's Basketball to Host West Virginia Wednesday in NIT
3/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The postseason appearance will be the sixth consecutive for Kent State, which will be playing in the NIT for the second straight year and the sixth time overall. KSUs previous NITs were 1985, 1989, 1990, 2000 and 2003. The Golden Flashes advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2000 NIT with wins against Rutgers and Villanova before falling to Penn State.
The winner of the Kent State-West Virginia game will play the winner of Boston University-Rhode Island in a first round game, Friday, March 19, at a site to be determined.
Were excited to get the chance to play a team from a high-major conference and it will be a great opportunity for our program, Kent State head coach Jim Christian said. West Virginia is a program that I have the utmost respect for and John Beilein is a tremendous coach who has had success everywhere he has been.
The Golden Flashes (22-8), winners of the Mid-American Conference East Division and runner-up at the MAC Tournament, will be meeting West Virginia (15-13) for the first time in their series history.
I think it is a tremendous tribute to our mens basketball program, Coach Christian, and the success of our student-athletes and how they have performed this year, along with our recent history and tradition that the NIT would send a Big East team to our place Director of Athletics Laing Kennedy said. Now we need to pack the MAC Center.
Tickets for Wednesday nights game go on sale Monday morning. For more information or to order tickets, contact the Kent State Athletic Ticket Office at (330) 672-2244.
