The Bradley men’s basketball team will host North Alabama in a first-round National Invitation Tournament game on Wednesday.
The No. 3-seed Braves (26-8) and unseeded Lions (24-10) are scheduled to start the 32-team event with a 7 p.m. tipoff at Carver Arena in a Dayton Region matchup.
The bracket was revealed Sunday night, a couple hours after the NCAA Tournament field was set.
Bradley previously announced it would accept a NIT selection as an exempt qualifier representing the Missouri Valley Conference. The Braves placed second in the MVC in the regular season and lost to Drake in the conference tournament last Sunday.
Like Bradley, Atlantic Sun Conference member North Alabama finished second in the regular season and fell in the ASUN tourney final to top-seeded Lipscomb. The Lions are making their NIT debut after previously winning two Division II national titles before moving up to D-I in 2018.
Valley member Northern Iowa also was selected to play in the NIT as an at-large team. The Panthers will open against No. 1 seed SMU in the Dallas Regional.
With a win, Bradley would face either No.2 seed George Mason or Samford in the second round. The other side of the region’s bracket has No. 1 Dayton facing Florida Atlantic and No. 4 Middle Tennessee pitted against Chattanooga.
The Dayton Region quarterfinal is scheduled for March 25. The four quarterfinal winners will advance to the NIT semifinals April 1 at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, with the championship game on April 3.
