SMU to face Minnesota for NIT championship Thursday

SMU will take on Minnesota in the National Invitation Tournament Championship at 6 p.m. CDT Thursday at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The game will be on ESPN.

Both programs received No. 1 seeds in their respective regions. SMU is 4-2 all-time in the NIT, including this year's victories over UC Irvine (68-54 on March 19), LSU (80-67 on March 24), California (67-65 on March 26) and Clemson (65-59 on April 1) en route to the program's first national tournament final.

SMU has 27 wins, the second-most in program history, and the most since the Mustangs recorded 28 wins in the 1987-88 season. The Mustangs went 18-1 at home this season, including 12-1 inside Moody Coliseum, and broke their single-season attendance record, setting the new mark at 107,412 (previous record was 101,296 in 1984-85).

SMU's 18 home wins were the most home victories in program history. The Mustangs sold out nine games in Moody Coliseum this season, a building record. SMU finished with 12 conference wins for the first time since it had 12 Southwest Conference wins in the 1992-93 season.

The Mustangs are seventh in the nation in field-goal percentage defense (1st American), holding opponents to 38.3%. The Mustang defense is allowing just 62.2 points per game, 24th in the NCAA (3rd American). SMU has held 29 of its last 45 (23 of 36 this year) opponents under 40% shooting. SMU has outrebounded 25 of 36 opponents this season.

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Watch Parties

Join SMU Mustang fans in watching the NIT Championship at two locations in the Dallas area - Moody Coliseum and Dave & Busters on Walnut Hill Lane at U.S. 75.

On Thursday night, SMU will host the College Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships, and the NIT Championship game will be shown on the videoboard. Fans choosing to watch the game at Moody Coliseum must have a ticket to the event that begins at 8 p.m. to attend the watch party. Tickets are available for purchase online.

Doors at Moody will open at 5:30 p.m. and concessions stands will be open.  Should the NIT Championship game run long and still be in progress after 8:12 p.m., the College Slam Dunk event will begin on the court and be shown on a split-screen with the game on the videoboard, as well as on the concourse monitors.

Other watch parties:

• Austin: Wahoo’s Fish Tacos, 509-A Rio Grande St., at 6 p.m. Central time. RSVP to austin@smualumni.smu.edu
      
• Chicago: Benchmark, 1510 N. Wells St., at 6 p.m. Central time. RSVP to chicago@smualumni.smu.edu
      
• Orlando area: The Ale House, 1251 Lee Road, in Winter Park, at 7 p.m. Eastern time. RSVP to orlando@smualumni.smu.edu
      
• San Francisco: Taps Social House and Kitchen, 1516 Broadway, at 4 p.m. Pacific time. RSVP to sanfrancisco@smualumni.smu.edu
      
• Tampa: Beef O’Brady’s, 2819 S. Macdill Ave., at 7 p.m. Eastern time. RSVP to tampa@smualumni.smu.edu
      
• Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institute for Science, 1530 P Street NW, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time. This event will be held in conjunction with “SMU Brings the Hilltop to D.C.,” with a reception and remarks featuring Alan C. Lowe, director of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. Registration is $15 per person and includes food and beverages. RSVP online.

Scenes from April 2 - Team Study Hall and Media Day

Click to see slide show. 

Scenes from April 1 at Madison Square Garden and Watch Parties

Click to see slide show.
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Scenes from Moody Coliseum on March 26 - Making it to the NIT Final Four