Cleveland, Ohio - The Kent State, Bowling Green, Buffalo and Toledo men's basketball programs will continue to play this season as each will take part in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).
BGSU will face Oakland this Wednesday at 7 p.m. in a first round matchup. The Falcons last made the postseason in 2009, earning a bid to the National Invitation Tournament after winning the MAC regular season crown. Bowling Green lost at Creighton 73-71 in the first round. The Falcons have not won a postseason game since defeating Tennessee 67-58 in the short-lived National Commissioner’s Invitational in 1975. Bowling Green tied for fifth in the Mid-American Conference this year, earning the No. 6 seed for the MAC Tournament. Oakland ended third in the final Summit League standings and played two MAC schools during the regular season, losing at home to both Ohio and Western Michigan.
Kent State will be making its 13th post season appearance in 14 years. The Golden Flashes are traveling to South Carolina to face USC Upstate of the Atlantic Sun Conference on Thursday at 7 pm. This will be the second CIT appearance for Kent State which participated in the inaugural event back in 2009. The Golden Flashes have won three post season games in the past two seasons advancing the NIT quarterfinals last year and the second round the year before. This will be the first ever meeting between the two schools.
Buffalo will play at American University on Wednesday night at 7:30 pm. It marks the second straight year the Bulls will play in the CIT and the third time in the past four years UB will play postseason basketball. Last season, Buffalo advanced to the third round of the CIT with wins over Quinnipiac and Western Michigan. This will be the fifth meeting between the schools. American holds a 3-1 edge in the all-time series. The two teams haven’t met since the 1973-74 season.
Toledo will host McNeese State in the CIT Tue at 7 p.m. The Rockets enjoyed one of the top turnaround seasons in the country under second-year Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk. After posting a 4-28 mark last year, the Rockets won 18 games this season to tie Manhattan for the second-biggest win improvement in the nation. USC-Upstate ranks first with a plus-15 win differential. UT finished 7-2 over its final nine games before falling to eventual tourney champion Ohio in the MAC Quarterfinals. Sophomore G Rian Pearson leads Toledo with 16.4 points (T-2nd in MAC)
The CIT is a 24-team postseason tournament in which all teams play first round games and byes are awarded in the second round. The Falcons enter the tournament with a record of 16-15 overall, while Oakland is 17-15.