13th consecutive postseason for St. Mary’s

Make it 13 straight postseason appearances for Randy Bennett’s St. Mary’s program. On Sunday, the Gaels received a second seed in the NIT. They’ll face thirdseeded Western Kentucky on Wednesday night.

St. Mary’s (149, 46 WCC) endured a threeweek pause from late January to midFebruary because of coronavirus issues. The Gaels were led by guards Logan Johnson, a secondteam AllWCC selection who averaged a teamhigh 13.5 points per game, and Tommy Kuhse, who averaged 12.6 points and 4.8 assists per game.

The Gaels have a 62 NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) ranking. The Hilltoppers (207, 113 Conference USA) are rated 81st by the NET. The winner of the St. Mary’sWestern Kentucky game will face the winner of the MississippiLouisiana Tech matchup.

St. Mary’s is in the NIT for the seventh time since 2008; the Gaels’ other six postseason appearances since then came in the NCAA Tournament. The pandemic forced the cancellation of postseason play last year.

The pandemic has altered the makeup of the NIT this season. Instead of the typical 32 teams, there are 16. Also, instead of playing earlyround games on campus sites and then the semifinals and finals at Madison Square Garden, the entire event will take place in the Dallas area.

The GaelsHilltoppers game takes place at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, the home of the Dallas Mavericks’ G League team. The Comerica Center will host the semifinals March 27 and the championship game March 28. The other NIT site is the University of North Texas’ Coliseum in Denton.