After failing to reach the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year, men’s basketball (23-10, 11-7 A-10) was awarded a No. 4 seed in the 2016 National Invitational Tournament Sunday night.
The Colonials will host a first-round matchup with No. 5 Hofstra (24-9) of the Colonial Athletic Association at the Smith Center Wednesday at 8 p.m.
A 23-win season that featured wins over No. 4 Virginia, Big East champion Seton Hall and VCU, a No. 10 seed in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, fell short of securing an at-large bid to the Big Dance.
Bowing out of the Atlantic 10 Tournament with a quarterfinal loss to Saint Joseph’s Friday, plus two losses to 200+ RPI teams in Saint Louis and DePaul, hurt the team’s overall resume.
The Colonials join fellow A-10 programs Saint Bonaventure (22-8, 14-4 A-10) and Davidson (20-12, 10-8 A-10) in the secondary tournament, who enter as No. 1 and No. 5 seeds, respectively.
Along with VCU, conference champion Saint Joseph’s, a No. 8 seed, and Dayton, a No. 7 seed, will represent the A-10 in the NCAA Tournament.
Should GW defeat the Pride, it will likely face No. 1 seed Monmouth (27-7) in the second round.
This marks the second straight NIT appearance for the Colonials, who were eliminated in the second round by No. 1 Temple after a first-round victory at No. 4 Pittsburgh last year.
