Valparaiso to participate in inaugural College Basketball Invitational

March 17, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Indianapolis, Ind. -- The Horizon League completed a trifecta of postseason tournaments late Sunday night when Valparaiso University was announced as one of 16 teams participating in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational (CBI).

The Crusaders (21-13 overall) travel west to play the University of Washington in the first round Wednesday night. Tip-off time is scheduled for 9 p.m. (Eastern time), with the game scheduled to air on the Fox College Sports channel. The winner advances to play either the University of Nevada or the University of Houston in the quarterfinals next Monday (March 24).

Semifinals for the tournament are slated for Wednesday, March 26, with the best-of-three championship series opening on Monday, March 31. All games in the tournament are played on campus sites.

Valparaiso reached the semifinals of the Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship and has won six of its last seven games. The Crusaders entered the loop tournament as the sixth seed after a 9-9 regular season in its first Horizon League campaign but defeated the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (75-67) and Wright State University (72-67) before losing to Cleveland State University (78-73) in the semifinals.

Senior forward Shawn Huff leads a balanced attack for the Crusaders, averaging 12.9 points per game while leading the League with his 48.4 percent touch from three-point range. Senior guard Jarryd Loyd only started one game this season but ranks second on the team scoring charts at 12.1 points per contest and stands fourth in the League with an average of four assists per game. Junior forward Urule Igbavboa provides 10.7 points per outing while standing second in the League at 7.4 rebounds per outing.

Valparaiso is in the postseason for the first time since 2004. Ironically, that game was also in the state of Washington, as the Crusaders fell to Gonzaga University in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

Washington (16-16) posted a 7-11 record in the Pacific-10 Conference and lost 84-81 to the University of California in the opening round of that circuit's tournament.

Butler University represents the Horizon League in this year's NCAA Tournament, with Cleveland State earning a berth in the MasterCard National Invitation Tournament.

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The pairings for the College Basketball Invitational can be found in the PDF version of this release.