Missouri State (25-8) will host Murray State (23-8) in the first round of the NIT Tuesday night at JQH Arena, starting at 7 p.m.
The Bears were left out as a potential at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament, despite an RPI at No. 42, Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title and runner-up finish in the MVC Tournament. Only Harvard (35) had a higher RPI among teams not selected for a 2011 NCAA Tournament berth. MSU now owns four of the top 25 RPI rankings not to be selected for the NCAA Tournament with previous oversights in 2006 (21), 2000 (34) and 2007 (36).
Kyle Weems, Jermaine Mallet and coach Cuonzo Martin on NIT
Should the Bears advance to the second round, they would play the winner of (2) Miami (Fla.) (19-14) and (7) Florida International between March 18-21 with the higher-seeded team hosting.