UNLV Rebels guard D.J. Thomas (11) drives past San Diego State Aztecs guard Lamont Butler (5) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the quarterfinal round of the Mountain West Conference tournament, Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus
Published Sunday, March 17, 2024 | 6:52 p.m.
Updated Sunday, March 17, 2024 | 8:20 p.m.
The UNLV basketball team is heading back to the postseason for the first time in more than a decade.
The Rebels were picked today for the 32-team National Invitational Tournament and will play 5 p.m. Wednesday at Princeton of the Ivy League in the opener.
UNLV hasn’t played in the postseason since losing in the first game of the 2013 NCAA Tournament to Cal.
Six teams from the Mountain West were selected for this year’s NCAA Tournament, but UNLV — which took fourth in the league’s regular season — didn’t have a strong postseason resume with a 19-12 overall record, including ugly defeats to Southern and Air Force at home.
Instead, it will settle for the second-tier NIT.
This will be UNLV’s 11th all-time appearance in the NIT. The Rebels in their most recent appearance lost to Kentucky in the 2009 first round.
UNLV has an all-time record of 8-11 across 10 NIT appearances.
The first three rounds of the tournament are played at the home court of the higher-seeded team, with this year’s semifinals at Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler University in Indianapolis.
UNLV’s best NIT run came in 1980, when they won three games to advance to the semifinals before falling to Virginia.
UNLV and Princeton have postseason history.
The Rebels lost to Princeton in the first round of 1998 NCAA Tournament, 69-57. It was the first tourney game for the Rebels since losing in the 1991 Final Four to Duke. Tyrone Nesby had 19 points in the loss to Princeton, but it wasn’t enough as Bill Bayno’s squad fell behind early and couldn’t rally.
UNLV would meet the winner of Providence-Boston College in the second round of the NIT.
