51³Ô¹ÏÍø

SMU will take on Minnesota in the National Invitation Tournament Championship at 6 p.m. CDT Thursday at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The game will be on ESPN.

Both programs received No. 1 seeds in their respective regions. 51³Ô¹ÏÍøis 4-2 all-time in the NIT, including this year's victories over UC Irvine (68-54 on March 19), LSU (80-67 on March 24), California (67-65 on March 26) and Clemson (65-59 on April 1) en route to the program's first national tournament final.

51³Ô¹ÏÍøhas 27 wins, the second-most in program history, and the most since the Mustangs recorded 28 wins in the 1987-88 season. The Mustangs went 18-1 at home this season, including 12-1 inside Moody Coliseum, and broke their single-season attendance record, setting the new mark at 107,412 (previous record was 101,296 in 1984-85).

SMU's 18 home wins were the most home victories in program history. The Mustangs sold out nine games in Moody Coliseum this season, a building record. 51³Ô¹ÏÍøfinished with 12 conference wins for the first time since it had 12 Southwest Conference wins in the 1992-93 season.

The Mustangs are seventh in the nation in field-goal percentage defense (1st American), holding opponents to 38.3%. The Mustang defense is allowing just 62.2 points per game, 24th in the NCAA (3rd American). 51³Ô¹ÏÍøhas held 29 of its last 45 (23 of 36 this year) opponents under 40% shooting. 51³Ô¹ÏÍøhas outrebounded 25 of 36 opponents this season.

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Watch Parties

Join 51³Ô¹ÏÍøMustang fans in watching the NIT Championship at two locations in the Dallas area - Moody Coliseum and Dave & Busters on Walnut Hill Lane at U.S. 75.

On Thursday night, 51³Ô¹ÏÍøwill host the College Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships, and the NIT Championship game will be shown on the videoboard. Fans choosing to watch the game at Moody Coliseum must have a ticket to the event that begins at 8 p.m. to attend the watch party. Tickets are available for purchase .

Doors at Moody will open at 5:30 p.m. and concessions stands will be open.  Should the NIT Championship game run long and still be in progress after 8:12 p.m., the College Slam Dunk event will begin on the court and be shown on a split-screen with the game on the videoboard, as well as on the concourse monitors.

Other watch parties:

• Austin: Wahoo’s Fish Tacos, 509-A Rio Grande St., at 6 p.m. Central time. RSVP to austin@smualumni.smu.edu
      
• Chicago: Benchmark, 1510 N. Wells St., at 6 p.m. Central time. RSVP to chicago@smualumni.smu.edu
      
• Orlando area: The Ale House, 1251 Lee Road, in Winter Park, at 7 p.m. Eastern time. RSVP to orlando@smualumni.smu.edu
      
• San Francisco: Taps Social House and Kitchen, 1516 Broadway, at 4 p.m. Pacific time. RSVP to sanfrancisco@smualumni.smu.edu
      
• Tampa: Beef O’Brady’s, 2819 S. Macdill Ave., at 7 p.m. Eastern time. RSVP to tampa@smualumni.smu.edu
      
• Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institute for Science, 1530 P Street NW, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time. This event will be held in conjunction with “51³Ô¹ÏÍøBrings the Hilltop to D.C.,” with a reception and remarks featuring Alan C. Lowe, director of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. Registration is $15 per person and includes food and beverages. .

Scenes from April 2 - Team Study Hall and Media Day

Scenes from April 1 at Madison Square Garden and Watch Parties

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Scenes from Moody Coliseum on March 26 - Making it to the NIT Final Four