The Iowa men’s basketball team earned a No. 3 seed and will take on Kansas State in the first round of the NIT on March 19 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. Central Time and will be broadcast on ESPN. 

The two squads each made the NCAA Tournament last season but have taken steps back this year amid departures from key players. 

For the Wildcats, these were guard Markquis Nowell and forward Keyontae Johnson, each of whom played in the NBA’s G-Leauge this season. The duo led the team in scoring and helped then-first-year head coach Jerome Tang deliver 26 wins and a third-place finish in the Big 12.

This season, the team’s per-game point production fell by five points and its win total dropped by seven. 

Finishing the regular season with an 18-13 mark, Kansas State managed an upset win over Texas in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament but was put away by eventual-champion Iowa State, 79-56, in the following round. The Wildcats haven’t been to the NIT since 2009. 

Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes haven’t been to the NIT since 2017, when they lost in the second round as the top seed. This season, Iowa finished 18-14 and tied for sixth in the Big Ten. 

Kansas State is headlined by senior guard Tylor Perry, who tops the team with 15.5 points and 4.4 assists per game. A transfer from North Texas over the offseason, Perry has plenty of experience in the NIT, as his former squad won the title last season.