March 6, 2005

Men's Basketball Makes 4^th Straight NCAA Appearance

Lopers to Play South Dakota Saturday

            Kearney, Neb. –   The Nebraska-Kearney men's basketball team (23-6) has made the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year and the ninth time in school history.

            Seeded sixth in the North Central Region, UNK will play 3^rd-seeded South Dakota (25-5) Saturday in Denver at a time TBA.

            Metro State (26-3), winners of the RMAC Tournament once again, are the top seed and will host the regional for the second straight season.

            The Lopers and Coyotes met in the second round of the NCAA's last year. UNK posted a 96-80 victory as Nick Branting scored 31 points.

            This will be only the fourth meeting between the two with UNK holding a 2-1 series edge.

            USD won the North Central Conference Tournament to extend its win streak to nine straight. The team is led by senior guard Josh Mueller (18.6 ppg, 4.5 apg) and Schuyler junior forward Turner Trofholz. (20.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg).

            UNK is 9-9 in eight previous NCAA appearances. The Lopers have met Metro in the regional finals each of the past two years.

            Also on the Lopers side of the bracket is 2^nd-seeded UNO (23-5) and 7^th-seeded Winona State of Minnesota (23-10). WSU won the Northern Sun Conference regular season title.

            Metro will play 8^th-seeded Northern State (21-9), who won the Northern Sun tournament, while 4^th-seeded Minnesota State-Mankato (23-7) will face 5^th-seed and RMAC member Fort Lewis (22-5).

            For the complete bracket go to www.ncaasports.com.