Nebraska-Omaha at Murray State, 8:00 PM Eastern, watchcollegeinsider.com
The CIT is back in action tonight with the final Second Round game as the Mavericks of Nebraska-Omaha head to Kentucky to take on the Murray State Racers. While the CIT does not normally announce its next round matchups until a round is complete, given that this game is being played two days after the completion of all other second round games, the quarterfinal matchups were released yesterday and the winner of this game will take on Towson later this week for a shot at the semifinals.
Omaha enters today’s game at 17-14 overall. They were one of the surprises of the Summit League regular season, finishing in the middle of the pack. However, due to being in their third of four transitional years up to the Division I level, they were ineligible for both the Summit League tournament and the conference’s automatic bid. A chance to play in the CIT is, however, giving the program postseason experience as it moves towards eligibility in the 2015-16 season.
Murray State enters tonight’s game at 19-11 overall. They finished 13-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference, winning the West Division. The Racers fell in the OVC semifinals to eventual champion Eastern Kentucky. While EKU came up short against Kansas in the first round of the NCAAs, this has still been and can continue to be a solid postseason for the OVC. Belmont will be playing at Clemson Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the NIT, and Murray State can advance to the CIT quarterfinals with a victory at home tonight. However, to get that far, they will have to find a way to defeat a tough Omaha team first.