CHENEY, Wash. — The Eastern Washington Eagles will face the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the second round of the 2023 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) on Sunday, March 19 (11 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. CT) in Stillwater, Okla., marking the first head-to-head matchup between the two programs since the 2004 NCAA Tournament.

Game Details

EWU (23-10) defeated Washington State in the first round of the NIT while Oklahoma State (19-15) outlasted Youngstown State. The Cowboys are one of four no. 1 seeds in the bracket after finishing 7th in the Big 12. Their 43rd NCAA Net Ranking was the second highest to be snubbed from the NCAA Tournament this year.

It will be the first ever trip to the second round of the NIT for Eastern after they secured the program's second postseason win of any kind, 81-74 over WSU in Pullman on Tuesday night. Guard Steele Venters led the offense with 27 points including the game-winning 3 from the left corner with under 20 seconds to go. The Eagles rallied from down 9 in the second half to avenge an early season loss to WSU at Spokane Arena.

Oklahoma State overcame a 36.6% shooting performance and four-point halftime deficit to beat YSU on Wednesday in Ohio. They outscored the Penguins 36-27 in the second half as five different players reached double figures, including three with double-doubles.

Eastern has taken on OSU just once previously, in the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2004. The 15-seed Eagles held their own in the first half, forcing a 36-36 at the break, before 2-seed OSU pulled away in the second, winning 75-56. Gregg Smith led Eastern in scoring with 16 points off the bench while Brendon Merritt had 14 and Marc Axton added 10. That OSU team went on to the NCAA Final Four, losing to Georgia Tech, 67-65. The Eagles are 0-12 all-time against Big 12 opponents after a 70-77 loss at Texas Tech on Dec. 13.

Sunday's game will be televised on ESPN2.