By Bill Cloutier, Assistant Sports Editor

The Quinnipiac men’s basketball team earned its first Division I postseason tournament berth primarily by being a dominant team on its home court. The Bobcats are going to have to prove they can play on the road to extend their stay.

Quinnipiac (23-9) will play at No. 1 Virginia Tech (23-8) in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Bobcats are seeded eighth in their bracket.

“It’s obviously a great thrill and a great honor to be the first Quinnipiac team to play in a national postseason tournament at Division I in the history of this school,” Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore said.

“It’s the culmination of what’s been a record-setting season for us. We’re thrilled and excited to have the opportunity to play in the NIT. It’s something that’s never been associated with our school’s name, so to be noticed nationally in such a historical postseason tournament is a great honor.”

The Bobcats earned the bid by virtue of winning the Northeast Conference regular-season title. Quinnipiac lost to Robert Morris 52-50 in the final of the NEC tournament on Wednesday at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, where it was 14-1.

Virginia Tech finished in a tie for third place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Hokies, who hoped to land an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, lost to Miami in the first round of the ACC tournament.

Things could get very interesting should the Bobcats upset the Hokies. Quinnipiac could face UConn in the second round pitting Bobcats coach Tom Moore against former mentor Jim Calhoun. Moore served as Calhoun’s assistant for 13 years at UConn.

But Quinnipiac has plenty of work to do before pondering possible second-round foes. Like Quinnipiac, Virginia Tech was dominant at home, posting a 15-1 mark.

“Virginia Tech is a terrific basketball team, extremely well-coached by coach (Seth) Greenberg,” Moore said. “Anytime you’re playing a team that’s won 10 games in the ACC, you know you’re playing a fantastic team.

“They always play with a lot of energy. Coach Greenberg historically gets his teams to play very hard. I’ve seen them play on TV a few times this year. They look very athletic. (Guard Malcolm) Delaney is one of the leading scorers, if not the leading scorer, in the ACC. I know Jeff Allen is a huge, physical presence inside. So we’ll obviously be spending a lot of time in the next two days preparing as best we can for such a good team. I’m happy for our players, happy for our fans, and honored to be directing the first Quinnipiac team to ever go to a (Division I) postseason tournament.” Continued...

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The Hokies were among the top ACC teams for much of the year, but what kept them out of the NCAA tournament was the lack of schedule strength. Their schedule ranked 116th in the nation, and its the non-conference schedule was ranked 340th. There are only 347 Division I teams.

Bill Cloutier can be reached at bcloutier@nhregister.com.

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