ORU Basketball Accepts CIT Bid

The Oral Roberts men's basketball team will compete in a postseason tournament for the seventh time in the past nine years, having accepted a bid to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

The Golden Eagles, who are 18-14 on the season, will travel to UT Arlington to face the Mavericks, who are 19-13 and lost in the WAC championship game. The game is scheduled for Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

It will be the second CIT appearance in three years for ORU, who lost to SMU in the first round of the tournament in 2011. UTA is making its first appearance in the tournament, but the second consecutive trip to the postseason. Both ORU and UTA competed in the NIT last year.

ORU and UTA have played six times since 1982, with each team having won three games. The Mavs won the most recent meeting 83-77 in overtime in Arlington in 2002. This will be the first meeting inside College Park Center, which is in its first full season of operation.

A former member of the Southland Conference, UTA averages just under 64 points per game and is led in scoring by Kevin Butler, who is the only Maverick to average double figures at 11.2 points per game. Jordan Reves is also a force, averaging 8.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

Starting last season, the CIT was expanded to 32 teams, and the brackets are designed geographically. The 2013 CIT Championship game will be televised on the CBS Sports Network. The full CIT bracket will be released after the NCAA and NIT selections are complete.