UMKC invited to CBI Tournament, will make first postseason appearance in Division I

UMKC’s men’s basketball team is headed to the postseason for the first time in its NCAA Division I history.

The Kangaroos will play in the 16-team CBI Tournament, taking on Green Bay at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at Swinney Recreation Center.

“We are thrilled to participate in the CBI,” UMKC coach Kareem Richardson said Sunday in a release. “Playing in the postseason was a team goal of ours.”

UMKC’s regular home, Municipal Auditorium, is unavailable because of the NAIA Tournament. Tickets for the game are general admission and are $15 or $10 for students. The box office will open at 5 p.m. and doors open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets can also be purchased at UMKCKangaroos.com.

The CBI is a single-elimination tournament with a best-of-three final. All games are played on campus sites.

UMKC is 17-16. The Roos were eliminated by New Mexico State in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament on Friday in Las Vegas.

The program, which formerly competed in the NAIA, joined Division I for the 1987-88 season. The Roos’ only other postseason appearance was in the 1977 NAIA Tournament.

All eight first-round CBI games will be played on Wednesday. The quarterfinals are scheduled for Monday. The UMKC-Green Bay winner will meet the winner of Eastern Washington at Wyoming.

Before the semifinals, the bracket will be reseeded.

The championship series begins on March 27.

Other first-round matchups include Loyola (Md.) at George Mason, Hampton at Coastal Carolina, Stony Brook at Illinois-Chicago, Toledo at George Washington, San Francisco at Rice and Utah Valley at Georgia Southern.

This story was originally published March 12, 2017 at 9:52 PM with the headline "UMKC invited to CBI Tournament, will make first postseason appearance in Division I."