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Tide Men's Basketball Headed To NIT
Graphic Credit: RollTide.com
The University of Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team will take their 18-14 and march right in to the 2016 National Invitation Tournament as the No. 5 seed to face No. 4 seed Creighton in Omaha, Nebraska tomorrow night at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Alabama head coach AVERY JOHNSON said, "We're excited for the opportunity to participate in the NIT. Obviously, coming into this season, there weren't many people picking us to participate in any postseason. We defied the odds all year. We played pretty good basketball all season in a tough Southeastern Conference and challenged ourselves with a tough non-conference schedule. Because of that and the 18 wins for us this year, we are fortunate enough to play in the NIT vs. an outstanding Creighton team. Creighton has a terrific home court advantage and a hostile environment. It's an opportunity for our team to get more basketball education in what will be a meaningful postseason game."
The Crimson Tide and Blue jays have met only once before in the series history, with that game also coming in the postseason in 2012 in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region in the second round. Creighton came away with a 58-57 victory.
This will be Bama's 13th appearance in the National Invitational Tournament to lead all SEC schools. The Tide is 24-16 in the NIT. Alabama leads the SEC in wins in the NIT, with South Carolina second with 21.
Tasked with a job of returning Alabama men's basketball to prominence following the steady decline of years' past, head basketball coach AVERY JOHNSON and his staff came through with a season no one expected when he was hired. Tide was expected, by many, to finish only above Missouri this season, but Johnson brought the Tide to a near NCAA Tournament invitation. However, the 18-14 Crimson Tide will be headed to the National Invitation Tournament.
The Alabama-Creighton winner will face the winner of the Wednesday night contest between No. 1 see St. Bonaventure and No. 8 seed Wagner. The time and location are yet to be determined for that match.
A total of seven Southeastern Conference schools will be participating in post season action, either in the NCAA Tournament or the NIT. Alabama, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia will play in the NIT this year while Texas A&M, Kentucky and Vanderbilt head to the NCAA Tournament.
Congratulations to head coach Avery Johnson and his entire staff:
AVERY JOHNSON ----- Head Coach
BOB SIMON -------------- Associate Head Coach
SCOTT POSPICHAL --- Assistant Coach
ANTOINE PETTWAY-- Assistant Coach
LOU DeNEEN ------------ Strength & Conditioning Coach
KOBIE BAKER ---------- Special Asst. to Head Coach/Senior Dir. of Operations
COLTON HOUSTON --- Director of Operations
ALEX FAIN --------------- Video Coordinator
CLARKE HOLTER ----- Athletic Trainer
DAVID MILLER --------- Assistant Video Coordinator
