University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Ready for Wyoming in NIT Second Round
March 23, 2003 | Men's Basketball
March 23, 2003
CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina will host Wyoming on Monday at 8 p.m. in the Smith Center in the second round of the 2003 Owens Corning National Invitation Tournament. The game will not be televised, the first Tar Heel game this season not to be on television.
Carolina advanced to round two with an 83-72 win over DePaul in Chapel Hill on Tuesday night. Wyoming defeated Eastern Washington 78-71 in Laramie, Wy. on Thursday night.
"We're fortunate to still be playing at this point in the season," UNC head coach Matt Doherty said during a teleconference on Saturday morning. "A lot of teams aren't playing right now. We've got a tough opponent in Wyoming. They have a lot of speed and are quick on the perimeter. They also have one of the best big men we'll face all season. They have a lot of size, which has given us trouble this year."
Like Tuesday night's NIT win over DePaul, most of the tickets for the NIT second-round game will be general admission, meaning three-quarters of the lower level seats and rows E-Y of the upper level will be first-come, first-served. Only sections 105-112 (behind the two team benches) will be reserved in the lower level. Smith Center doors will open at 6 p.m. on Monday evening.
The Tar Heels are making their fifth NIT appearance and first since 1974. Carolina has an all-time record of 8-3 in five NIT appearances.
Monday night's game will be the first-ever between Carolina and Wyoming in men's basketball.
After missing postseason play last season while going 8-20, Carolina has now reached the postseason in 36 of the last 37 years (a span that began with the 1966-67 season).
The winner of Monday's Carolina-Wyoming game will advance to play the winner of Monday's game between Georgetown and Providence (at a site and date to be determined).
During the 2002-03 regular season, the Tar Heels played three other schools included in the 2003 NIT field. They were 1-0 against St. John's and 1-1 versus Georgia Tech and Virginia.
