Auburn University announced on Mar. 15 that its men’s basketball team will host South Alabama in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at Neville Arena. The game is scheduled for Tuesday night with a tip-off at 9 p.m. Central Time and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
The matchup comes as Auburn enters the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. The winner between Auburn and South Alabama will advance to face either No. 4 seed Seattle University or No. 5 seed St. Thomas (Minnesota). Should Auburn win, it would also host the second-round game at Neville Arena.
Auburn finished its regular season with a record of 17-16 and was listed as the second team out of selection for the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers have played what they describe as the nation’s third toughest schedule and have recorded wins over seven teams that made this year’s NCAA Tournament, including Florida, Arkansas, St. John’s, Kentucky, Texas, NC State, and Queens.
This marks Auburn’s seventh appearance in the NIT and its first since 2009 when it reached the third round—the furthest it has advanced in this tournament to date. Overall, Auburn holds a 4-6 record in NIT play.
In their history against South Alabama, Auburn leads with an 8-4 record and has won five consecutive games in the series. South Alabama enters this contest with a season record of 21-11 after finishing conference play at 11-7 in the Sun Belt.
