It's been a big day for the University of Evansville.  The women's basketball team is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999, and tonight, the men's team earned its first post-season appearance since 1999 with an invitation to play in the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). 

Coach Marty Simmons' Purple Aces will host the 19-12 Belmont University Bruins Wednesday at 7:00 cdt at Roberts Stadium in the first round of the 16-team CIT.  Tickets are on sale each day at the Carson Center ticket office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and at the Roberts Stadium box office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Belmont finished 14-6 in the Atlantic Sun Conference, and is led by Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year Alex Renfroe, who averages 16.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.  Renfroe scored 38 in an overtime loss to Jacksonville in December, and 30 in a two-point loss at Tennessee in December.

Belmont had played in three consecutive NCAA Tournaments by winning the A-Sun Tournament in 2006, 2007 and 2008 before losing in the semifinals this year to East Tennessee State.  This will be Evansville's first post-season game since playing in the NCAA Tournament against Kansas in 1999.  Both the Bruins and Purple Aces played earlier this season against #1 seeds in this week's NCAA Tournament.  Belmont lost at Pittsburgh by 14 points, 74-60, and Evansville lost at North Carolina by 18, 91-73.  

Here are the CIT pairings (all times central):

Tuesday March 17
Rider (19-12) @ Liberty (22-11) 6:05
Kent State (19-14) @ Oakland (22-12) 6:00

Wednesday March 18
Mount St. Mary’s (19-13) @ James Madison (19-14) 6:00
Austin Peay (19-13) @ Bradley (18-14) 7:05
Belmont (19-12) @ Evansville (17-13) 7:00
Portland (19-12) @ Pacific (19-11) 9:00
Drake (17-5) @ Idaho (16-15) 9:00

Thursday March 19
The Citadel (20-12) @ Old Dominion (21-10) 6:00
"We're really excited about this, especially for our seniors and our fans," Simmons said.  "We made some big steps forward this season.  One reason was the retention of the players from last season.  This is our second year with them, and they had a year of knowing our system of play.  That helped us get off to a much better start.  The second thing is the addition of our new players.  They brought enthusiasm to our program and have helped our depth.  Our fans deserve credit, too, for getting us into post-season play. It's great to be playing another game at Roberts Stadium, and hopefully more."

First round winners advance to the quarterfinals on March 23. Pairings for those games will be announced after the first round. Semifinals are March 25, and the championship game is March 31. All games are played on a home court.

Here are some notes about the 17-13 Purple Aces, who finished fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference and achieved their first winning season since 2000.

•This will be UE's eighth post-season appearance since going Division I in 1977 (NCAA 1982, 89, 92, 93, 99; NIT 1988, 94)

•This month is the 20th anniversary of UE’s first NCAA Division I Tournament victory (March 17, 1989 vs. Oregon State), 15th anniversary of UE’s most recent NIT appearance (March 16, 1994), and 10th anniversary of UE’s most recent post-season game (March 12, 1999 vs. Kansas in NCAA Tournament).

•RPI of 92, and strength-of-schedule of 55

•Fourth best RPI in 10-team Missouri Valley Conference, trailing only co-champions Creighton and Northern Iowa, and third place Illinois State.  MVC is ranked 9th among Division I conferences

•UE has seventh most improved RPI in the nation (UE ranked 251st in Marty Simmons' first year as head coach in 2008)

•Victories over RPI Top 100 teams Western Kentucky, Miami (Ohio), Bradley, Buffalo

•Only non-conference losses were on the road at Butler and North Carolina

•Homecourt record is 15-3, best since 1995

•Average attendance of 6,452 for the nine MVC home games, up nearly 1,000 per game over last season

•Second-year coach Marty Simmons was third in MVC Coach of the Year voting behind league co-champions Creighton and Northern Iowa

•Senior Shy Ely is the Missouri Valley Conference scoring champion, first team all-MVC, and UE’s first NABC All-District selection since 1993

•Senior Jason Holsinger is the leading career scorer among active MVC players, and is a first team Academic All-American

•Four all-MVC selections: Shy Ely (first team), Jason Holsinger (honorable mention), Nate Garner (Most Improved Team), Kaylon Williams (All-Freshman Team)