UNR pays to play in inaugural invitational
UNR's basketball season will continue. But it came at an expensive price.
The Wolf Pack (21-11), which lost in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday, accepted a bid Sunday to play in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational after it did not make the 32-team National Invitation Tournament field.
Late Sunday night, the Wolf Pack learned it would host Houston at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Lawlor Events Center. The Cougars are 6-1 lifetime against UNR, and the two schools last met in 1993 in Reno, when Houston posted a 92-80 win.
The 16-team tournament is run by The Gazelle Group, a promotional organization which stages basketball events during the regular season. UNR had to pay $60,000 to participate, something fellow WAC member New Mexico State refused to do.
"We're excited to be a part of the College Basketball Invitational," coach Mark Fox said in a statement. "We're looking forward to playing Houston. They're athletic and talented and extremely well-coached by Coach (Tom) Penders."
UNR will have little time to prepare for and promote Tuesday's game. The team returned from Las Cruces, N.M., Saturday and had Sunday off. And given what the school had to pay to participate, it likely will lose money on the deal.
UNR officials don't figure to come close to hitting the team's average Lawlor attendance of 7,821, especially given the cheapest seat is $18 with the most expensive seats costing $25. But they believe they can get 4,000 to show up and recoup most of the $60,000 investment.
"We think it's worth the expense," said Keith Hackett, UNR's associate athletic director for operations. "It's a chance to get the kids back on the floor, playing in the postseason and in Lawlor.
"We'll be working all day to get the word out, and we've got $5 tickets for students, and we think we'll get them to come out."
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@ reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2913.
