Northwest Missouri celebrates their conference tournament title (photo/Bearcatsports.com)
The Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team grabbed the NCAA Central Region’s top seed and will host a regional tournament in Maryville, Mo., starting Saturday, March 10.
Northwest’s first-round game against No. 8 seed Minnesota State is scheduled for Saturday, March 10, at 6 p.m. at Bearcat Arena. The second round will be on Sunday, March 11 and the Sweet 16 round will be on Tuesday, March 13. The National Championship Elite Eight will be held in Sioux Falls, S.D., starting on Tuesday, March 20. Northwest has advanced to the Central Region championship game each of the past four seasons and captured the NCAA National Championship in 2016-17.
Northwest is making its 18th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the sixth appearance under head coach Ben McCollum (12-4 overall). McCollum, who is in his ninth season, led the Bearcats to a fifth-straight MIAA regular season title and third-straight MIAA Tournament title. Justin Pitts was named the MIAA Player of the Year for the third straight year and earned first team All-MIAA honors for the fourth time.
Missouri Southern will also take part in this regional as the fifth seed and face Southwest Minnesota State.
Drury University and Truman State are the 6 and 7 seeds in the Midwest regional. The Panthers will be making their 11th NCAA-II postseason appearance. They own an all-time record of 12-9 in the NCAA-II tournament with two regional titles and the 2013 national championship.  Truman is 20-10.
