AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn forward Filip Jovic scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Tigers to a 75-69 victory over Nevada in a National Invitation Tournament quarterfinal Wednesday night at Neville Arena.
The victory sends Auburn, which improved to 20-16 overall this season, into the 32-team bracket’s semifinals on Thursday, April 2, at Butler University’s Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. It’s the deepest NIT run ever for the Tigers, who are making the program’s seventh appearance in the tournament and first since 2009, when they reached the quarterfinals for the first time.
After starting this season 14-7 overall and 5-3 against Southeastern Conference competition, the Tigers stumbled in February and early March on their way to being left out of the 68-team field for the NCAA Division I tournament a year after the program’s second Final Four appearance in the past six editions of March Madness.
The consolation prize for first-year head coach Steven Pearl and his players was an NIT berth, and the Tigers added Wednesday’s win to a 78-61 first-round victory against South Alabama on March 17 and a 91-85 second-round triumph against Seattle University this past Sunday.
“It’s not the tournament we want to be playing, but our guys have done a great job of using this platform and this opportunity to go out there and hoop,” Pearl said in a report on the team’s official website. “I’m really proud of them for that, and it’s something we can build on.”