Georgetown Hoyas Playing in National Invitation Tournament

The Georgetown University men's basketball team was selected to play in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) on Sunday night. The Hoyas will face a familiar foe in former conference member West Virginia on Tuesday night, March 18 at historic McDonough Arena. The game tips off at 7 p.m. and will air live on ESPN.

The game will air locally on ESPN 980 AM.

The Hoyas enter the NIT with a 17-14 overall record following a first round loss in the BIG EAST Tournament last Wednesday. The Blue & Gray, who posted six wins over teams in the NCAA Tournament, played one of the toughest schedules in the country, rank No. 9 in strength of schedule and posted five wins over top-50 teams.

This is the 10th-straight postseason appearance for the Hoyas under Head Coach John Thompson III, including seven NCAA Tournament nods and three in the NIT.

Georgetown has appeared in the NIT 11 times prior to this season. The Hoyas have an all-time record of 14-12 in the NIT. Most recently, GU appeared in the NIT during the 2008-09 season, falling to Baylor, 74-72, in the opening round. The team went to the NIT during Thompson's first year on the Hilltop, advancing to the third round in 2004-05.

This will be the 52nd all-time meeting between Georgetown and WVU, with the Hoyas leading the head-to-head series, 26-25. The teams last played during the 2011-12 season.

The winner of the Georgetown-West Virginia game will play the winner of a game between top-seeded Florida State and No. 8 seed Florida Gulf Coast in the second round. Game dates are between March 20-24.

Tickets are now available to current athletics donors at the $50 level and above and 2013-14 men's basketball season ticket holders. Current Georgetown University students with a valid GOCard will be admitted free of charge (subject to availability). For more information, please visit here.

Georgetown is led by senior guard Markel Starks (Accokeek, Md./Georgetown Prep), a First Team All-BIG EAST selection, and sophomore guard D/'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central/Oak Hill). A two-year captain, Starks leads the team in scoring and assists, averaging 17.1 points and 4.1 assists. He ranks fourth in the BIG EAST in scoring, is seventh in the league in assists, fifth in free throw percentage (85.9%), 13th in three-point field goals made (1.7), 10th in assist/turnover ratio (1.7, 122 assists, 71 turnovers) and second in minutes played (36.8). Smith-Rivera, who was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll five times this year, is second on the team with 16.8 points per game, which ranks sixth in the BIG EAST Conference. He is second on the team with 2.7 assists, third on the team with 4.8 rebounds and leads the team with 1.2 steals per game. In BIG EAST games, he averaged 17.4 points per game.