Orange to Host UNC Greensboro in NIT

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse men's basketball team (18-14, 10-8 ACC) is one of the four No. 1 seeds in the 2017 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and will host No. 8 seed UNC Greensboro (25-9, 14-4 Southern) in the first round at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 14 at the Carrier Dome. The game will be televised on ESPN.

Tickets for the game go on sale at 11 p.m. tonight. Season-ticket holders and Orange Club members with Priority Points should order using their MyCuse account. Tickets for the general public are available through TicketMaster.com. All Carrier Dome suite holders, courtside seat season-ticket holders and Executive Suite patrons are invited to call the Orange Club (315-443-1419) to order tickets beginning tomorrow at 9 a.m.

Tickets start at $15 for adults and $5 for Syracuse University or ESF students with a valid ID, and youth ages 12 and under. Season-ticket seat locations will NOT be reserved.

The Carrier Dome Box Office will be open tomorrow from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Ticket sales will only be conducted online or in-person. The Box Office opens at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday and will remain open until halftime.

NIT event parking is $15, with shuttle service provided for the Manley Field House lots. Men's basketball 2016-17 campus and Carrier Dome area season parking passes will be honored in lots west of the Dome, on a space available basis, at no charge. Manley season parking passes will be honored at no charge (shuttle included). Premium lot patrons (Q1, Q2, Q3, R7, CARN and HILL) may park in their season lot.

SU is making its 13th NIT appearance and holds a 12-13 record in the tournament. The Orange reached the NIT Championship at Madison Square Garden in 1981 and 2002. In 1981, Syracuse fell in the title game to Tulsa, 86-84, in overtime. In 2002, the Orange lost in the semifinals to South Carolina, 66-59, and dropped the third-place game to Temple, 65-54.

This year's Orange are one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference. SU is second in the league in 3-point field goals per contest (8.8) and fifth in 3-point shooting percentage (.384). The Orange also lead the ACC in steals at eight per game.

All-ACC Third Team honoree Andrew White III paces four Orange in double figures at 18 points a game. Tyler Lydon (13.1), Tyus Battle (10.9) and John Gillon (10.9) are also averaging better than 10 points per contest. Lydon, an ACC Honorable Mention choice, is the club's top rebounder at 8.4 boards per outing.

UNC Greensboro, coached by Wes Miller, finished in a three-way tie for the Southern Conference regular-season title. The Spartans advanced to the SoCon championship game, losing to East Tennessee State, 79-74.

The Spartans are led by All-SoCon Second Team selections Francis Alonso and Diante Baldwin. Alonso owns a scoring average of 15.2 points per game. He's also a 47 percent shooter from 3-point range, hitting 101 of his 215 triple tries. Baldwin is the team's second-leading scorer at 13.3 points per contest and tops the Spartans in assists (140). SoCon All-Freshman performer James Dickey is UNCG's top rebounder at 7.3 boards per game.

Syracuse is 3-0 all-time against UNCG. The most recent series pairing occurred at the Carrier Dome on Dec. 10, 2002 and was won by the Orange, 92-65.

Syracuse University Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Tyus Battle

John Gillon

Tyler Lydon

Andrew White III

Related Videos