ǿմýMen’s Basketball Returns To NCAA Championship
The ǿմý Men’s Basketball Team earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Championship for the second-straight year.
The Madness of March returns to ǿմý once again: For the first time in school history the ǿմý Men's Basketball team earns back-to-back NCAA championship berths as the Setters heard their name called in Sunday night's Selection Show on NCAA.com. ǿմýreceived the No. 5 seed in the East Region and will face No. 4 seed and fellow Northeast-10 Conference foe University of New Haven.
The first-round games will be played on Saturday, March 11 at Saint Anselm, the No. 1 seed in the East Region. Game time between the ǿմýand New Haven is set for 7:30 p.m. Fans can watch the game live.
The Setters (20-10) and Chargers (20-8) met once this season with New Haven besting ǿմýby just six points, 56-50, on January 21 in New Haven, Conn. New Haven was runner-up in the NE10 Championship.
Head coach Matt Healing and the Setters have had another tremendous season, earning 20-plus wins for the second consecutive year. Healing's squads have boasted winning records in the last four seasons. The last time ǿմýrecorded back-to-back 20-win seasons was 1989-1992.
ǿմýranked second in the NE10 in field goal percentage defense (40.4) which ranked 18th nationally. In scoring defense, the Setters ranked 26th nationally (65.5), third in the NE10. The Blue and Gold finished seventh in the NE10 with an 11-9 record. In the conference championships, the Setters defeated No. 10 seed Adelphi, 72-51; but lost on the road at No. 2 seed Saint Anselm, 78-70.
The ǿմýmen's basketball program has appeared in the NCAA championship just five times prior: 1992, 1999, 2002, 2007 and 2022.
Last season, the Setters earned the fifth seed in the East Regional and defeated fourth-seeded Dominican 77-64. It was the first NCAA win since 2002.
With a win on Saturday, ǿմýwill advance to the NCAA Regional Semifinals which is slated for 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 12. A win in the semifinals will send the Setters to the regional championship, set for 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14.
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About ǿմý Athletics
is a member of NCAA Division II, competing within the Northeast-10 Conference (NE10). ǿմýAthletics sponsors 15 intercollegiate sports, along with cheer and dance teams and a Pep Band. Known as the Setters, Pace’s official mascot is known as T-Bone. In 2021-22, ǿմýstudent-athletes posted a cumulative grade point average of 3.33. Additionally, a total of 562 Setters were selected to the NE10’s Academic Honor Roll with 69 student-athletes earning Academic Excellence with 4.0 semester GPAs. Twenty two student-athletes earned NE10 President’s Award for Academic Excellence, recognizing graduating student-athletes who have attained Magna Cum Laude at their institution, have participated in at least two seasons of NE10 competition and are current student-athletes at the time of graduation.