If it’s any consolation for the Long Beach State men’s basketball team, the season is not over yet.
The 49ers (22-11) earned a No. 7 seed in the National Invitation Tournament and will play at No. 2-seeded Washington State (19-12) in Pullman, Wash., for the first round Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The winner will play either No. 3-seeded Oklahoma State (19-13) or No. 6-seeded Harvard (23-6).
The 49ers were guaranteed the NIT selection after winning the Big West Conference regular-season title. LBSU lost to UC Santa Barbara, 64-56, in the conference tournament title game for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
UCSB received a 15-seed in the Big Dance and will play No. 2-seeded Florida on Thursday in the Southeast Regional in Tampa, Fla.
It will be LBSU’s sixth appearance in the NIT, and its first since 2000. The 49ers are 2-5 all-time in NIT games.
The NIT, the oldest college basketball tournament founded in 1938, is a single-elimination bracket that features 32 teams — including 14 automatic bids that won its conference regular-season title but failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
The first three rounds of the event will be played on the home court of the higher seeded teams. The semifinals and finals will be played at Madison Square Garden on March 29 and 31 in New York City.
Dayton won the tournament last season.
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