Bowling Green State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Headed For NIT
March 12, 2000 | Men's Basketball
March 12, 2000
The Bowling Green men's basketball team has been invited to participate in the 2000 NIT, it was announced Sunday night (March 12). The Falcons will head to Provo, Utah, to face Brigham Young University on Wednesday (March 14). The game is set for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff locally (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time), with the winner taking on the victor of the Southern Illinois-at-Colorado game.
BYU's 22,700-seat Marriott Center will serve as the site for the game.
The Falcons, 22-7 overall, are appearing in the NIT for the 12th time in school history, and the first time since the 1996-97 season. BGSU has an overall NIT record of 6-11, having made a championship-game appearance in 1945 and a trip to the semifinals in 1949.
BYU, 20-10 on the season, finished sixth in the Mountain West Conference with a 7-7 league record, but downed third-place New Mexico and second-place Utah to advance to the league tournament championship. In that game Saturday (March 11), the Cougars lost to top-seeded UNLV, the tourney host, by a 79-56 score.
BGSU has a record of 1-2 vs. BYU in the all-time series, with the home team winning each time. The teams have not met since the 1956-57 season, when coach Harold Anderson's team ventured west for back-to-back games in Provo. The Falcons suffered a 73-56 loss on Dec. 21, 1956, and a 78-69 setback the following night. The only other game was a 75-50 BGSU home win on Jan. 2, 1950.
The Falcons, 22-7 overall, won the Mid-American Conference regular-season championship, but were defeated in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament.
BGSU's complete list of NIT games follows:
BGSU IN THE NIT:
Year___Opponent_____________________Result
1944___St. John's (1st Rd._________L 40-44
1945___Rensselaer (1st Rd.)________W 65-45
St. John's (SF)_____________W 57-44
DePaul (CG)_________________L 54-71
1946___Rhode Island (1st Rd.) $____L 79-82
1948___Saint Louis (1st Rd.)_______L 53-69
1949___St. John's (1st Rd.)________W 77-64
Saint Louis (QF)____________W 80-74
San Francisco (SF)__________L 39-49
Bradley (Cons.)_____________W 88-77
1954___Wichita (1st Rd.)___________W 88-84
Western Kentucky (QF)_______L 81-95
1980___at Minnesota (1st Rd.)______L 50-64
1983___at Michigan St. (1st Rd.)___L 71-72
1990___at Cincinnati (1st Rd.)_____L 60-75
1991___at Wisconsin (1st Rd.) $____L 79-87
1997___at West Virginia (1st Rd.)__L 95-98
All neutral-site games held at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y.
$ - overtime game
