ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF men's basketball team is set to play its first postseason game in five years when it hosts Colorado Wednesday night at CFE Arena. The Knights and the Buffaloes are scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m. in the First Round of the National Invitation Tournament.
The Knights (21-11) earned a four seed in their second ever NIT appearance after winning over 20 games for the first time since 2012. That year UCF went 22-11 overall and played as the six seed in the NIT, losing at third seeded Drexel, 81-56.
Colorado (19-14) will come to Orlando for the first time as a five seed in the 2017 NIT. The Buffaloes finished seventh in the Pac-12 with a league record of 8-10 and defeated Washington State in the first round of the league's tournament before falling to second seed and eventual champion No. 4 Arizona in the quarterfinals.
UCF's first time hosting an NIT game, Wednesday night's contest will be streamed live on ESPN3, WatchESPN and the ESPN app with Drew Fellios and Mark Wise calling the action. The game will also air on FM 96.9 The Game and the iHeart app with Marc Daniels and Taylor Young on the call.
Tickets for the game are available for purchase on UCFKnights.com. Premium seating tickets are $20, reserved seats are $12, and student tickets are just $4. Additionally, 300 student tickets will be given out for free on a first-come-first-serve basis Wednesday morning at the CFE Arena Box Office.
Wednesday night's match-up will be the second time UCF and Colorado have faced off in the all-time series between the two teams. The Buffaloes won 96-87 in Boulder back on Jan. 3, 2007. The Knights are 1-2 all-time against teams currently in the Pac-12, having lost to Stanford in 1990 and defeated Utah in 2006.
The winner of UCF and Colorado will advance to take on whoever comes out on top of the contest between top seed Illinois State and eighth seeded UC Irvine.
Either foe would create an interesting story line for the Knights, as UCF faced off against UC Irvine last season in a match-up of 7-foot-6 centers in Tacko Fall and Mamadou N'Diaye, while Illinois State is the former home of UCF senior Nick Banyard, who left the Redbirds after graduating last year.
The second round and quarterfinals of the NIT are also played at campus sites, while the semifinals and championship game take place at New York City's Madison Square Garden. The final two rounds are scheduled for March 28 and 30.
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