Men's Basketball | 3/13/2017 2:08:00 PM

Season Ticket Holder Tickets | General Public Tickets | Ticket Info | Bracket | CBI

STATESBORO, Ga. – Fans who come out to Wednesday's men's basketball game against Utah Valley in The College Basketball Invitational presented by FIVE FOUR may get a glimpse of the future of college basketball.

In an effort to assist the NCAA in its research, the CBI presented by FIVE FOUR will utilize recent experimental playing rules adopted by the 2017 NIT, including resetting team fouls to zero at the end of 10-minute segments of each half and resetting the shot clock to 20 seconds instead of 30 seconds at times when the ball is inbounded in the front court.

In the experimental rule regarding resetting the team fouls, the one-and-one free throw bonus will not occur. Instead, teams will shoot two free throws in the following examples:
• Each team is limited to a team total of four personal and technical fouls (excluding administrative technical fouls) during each 10-minute segment of each half.
• The first 10-minute segment of each half will begin when the ball becomes live to begin the half and will end when the game clock reads 10:00. The second segment will begin when the game clock reads 9:59 and ends when the half ends.
• When a team has reached the four-foul limitation, all subsequent personal and technical fouls (excluding administrative technical fouls) will be penalized by two free throw attempts.
• Each team's foul total will reset to zero when any 10-minute segment has ended.
• The rules regarding penalties for fouls in the act of shooting, flagrant fouls or technical fouls will not be affected by this experimental rule and will always result in two free throws unless the rules specifically say otherwise.
• In any overtime period, when a team has reached a total of three personal and technical fouls (excluding administrative technical fouls), all subsequent personal and technical fouls will be penalized by two free throw attempts.

In the other experimental rule, the shot clock will remain the same as when play was interrupted or reset to 20 seconds, whichever is greater, at any time any of the following occurs:
• A personal foul by the defense, which results in no free throws, and the ball is inbounded in the front court.
• Any technical foul assessed against the defense, and the ball is inbounded in the front court.
• The game is stopped for a bleeding player or blood on a uniform and the ball is inbounded in the front court.

Georgia Southern will open the tournament by hosting Utah Valley Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse. It's the seventh postseason bid for the men's basketball program in the Division I era and the first since the Eagles played in the 2006 NIT. Georgia Southern has never won a postseason game in the Division I era.

Georgia Southern features the Sun Belt's top two scorers in sophomores Ike Smith (19.9 ppg) and Tookie Brown (17.4 ppg), who were both 2017 first-team All-Sun Belt selections. 

Utah Valley plays in the Western Athletic Conference, owns an overall record of 15-16, went 6-8 in the WAC this season and advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament. The Wolverines are the 10th-fastest team in the nation according to KenPom.com at 73.8 possessions per 40 minutes. Georgia Southern and Utah Valley have never met on the hardwood.

Lower reserved, upper reserved and general admission seating are all $10 per ticket, and courtside seats are $20 each. The game is not a part of the 2016-17 season ticket package, but season ticket holders have until Monday at 11 p.m. to log onto their account and purchase their same seats. That can be done online at GSEagles.com/login or by calling 1 (800) GSU-WINS during regular business hours. Tickets will go on sale to the general public online tonight (Sunday) and can be purchased online at GSEagles.com/tickets.

The student section will be in section C, and the first 100 students get in free with a valid ID. Students will need to come to one of the ticket windows at Hanner Fieldhouse with their valid student ID in order to obtain a ticket.

All parking will be free and first come, first served for everyone.

About the CBI presented by FIVE FOUR
The CBI presented by FIVE FOUR, which began in 2008 and is celebrating its 10th anniversary, is a single-elimination tournament up until the Championship Series, with all games played at campus sites, providing fans the opportunity to follow and support their team. The event features eight first-round games, four quarterfinal round games, a semifinal round, and then a best-of-three Championship Series. The 16-team field consists of teams not selected for the NCAA Tournament. Teams are invited based upon performance during their conference and non-conference schedules.

The 2017 CBI will begin Wednesday, March 15, and end with a best-of-three Championship Series that begins Monday, March 27, and will be televised live on ESPNU. The Quarterfinal Round will take place Monday, March 20, with Semifinal Round games being played Wednesday, March 22. Prior to the semifinals, the remaining teams will be re-bracketed. The Finals series is a best-of-three in which one team will host two of the three games. Those games will be played on March 27, March 29, and March 31.

The CBI has a long, distinguished history of teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in the season following their appearance in the tournament. Twenty-eight teams have used the CBI to springboard to the NCAA Tournament the following year, while another 17 have gone on to the NIT.

Nevada won the 2016 title and is 28-6 and won the Mountain West title to punch their ticket in the NCAA Tournament this year. VCU won the 2010 CBI and advanced to the Final Four the next season, and Morehead State played in the 2010 CBI and the next year had the greatest season in school history. Richmond advanced to the semifinals of the 2009 CBI and went on to earn back-to-back NCAA Tournament bids for the first time in 19 years. In 2012, Creighton, Davidson, Montana and St. Bonaventure all won their respective league tournaments after playing in the 2011 CBI.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. For tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.