UH men to face Georgia Tech in NIT

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The University of Houston was selected for the National Invitation Tournament and will play Georgia Tech in a first-round game Wednesday in Atlanta.



It will be the Cougars' first trip to the NIT since back-to-back appearances in the 2004-2005 and 2005-06 season and comes just a year after UH struggled to a 13-19 record.

"Huge accomplishment for this group of guys especially in our second year," UH coach Kelvin Sampson said.

The UH- winner will play the South Carolina-High Point winner in the second round of the 32-team tournament.



The Cougars are the No. 5 seed in the tournament after going 22-9 and finishing tied for third in the American Athletic Conference.



UH was considered a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament, but one one of the worst non-conference strength of schedules, late loss to South Florida and first-round exit in the AAC tournament ultimately doomed the Cougars.

The AAC got four teams in the NCAA Tournament: Temple, Connecticut, Cincinnati and Tulsa.

"Obviously everybody wants to get in the NCAA Tournament," Sampson said, ""Looking at the four teams from our league that made it shows how close we are."

Georgia Tech, a No. 4 seed, finished the regular season 19-14 and 8-10 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.



This is the tenth NIT appearance for UH, which is 5-9 overall. The Cougars reached the tournament championship game in 1977, losing to St. Bonaventure 94-91.