Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Earns First NIT Bid in 24 Years
3/11/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The game between the No. 5 seed Thundering Herd (21-13) and the No. 4 seed Blue Raiders (25-6) from Murfreesboro, Tenn. will be broadcast on ESPN3.
It will be the sixth overall meeting between the reigning Sun Belt Conference champions and Marshall. MTSU leads the all-time series 3-2, but the Herd won the last meeting 63-60 on Nov. 17, 2009 in Huntington.
"It's the next step for us and for this program," said head coach Tom Herrion. "It's the next step towards restoring the tradition here. None of our players were born since the last appearance in the NIT. It's a great challenge playing on the road at Middle Tennessee. They are a terrific club out of the Sun Belt and have had a terrific year."
Marshall has a 2-5 record in the NIT and its last appearance was on March 16, 1988, an 81-80 loss at home to VCU. The Herd's other NIT appearances occurred in 1967, 1968 and 1973. It will be the first ever true road game played by Marshall in the NIT. The other six appearances were played at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Ticket information will be released on Monday.
