WASHINGTON – Georgetown University's third-seeded men's basketball team hosts sixth-seeded Harvard in the First Round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at McDonough Arena on Wednesday night. The game is the first postseason appearance for the Hoyas since 2014-15.

Wednesday's action is set for a 7 p.m. tip and will air on ESPN2 with Mike Corey calling the action and Malcolm Huckaby providing commentary. Fans can listen nationally on SiriusXM 380 / 975 or locally on The Team 980 with Rich Chvotkin in his 45th season on the call.

Tickets to this event are currently sold out.  Fans may place their name on a wait list by visiting WeAreGeorgetown.com/NIT.

Georgetown enters the NIT with a 19-13 overall record after falling 73-57 to Seton Hall in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament, Presented by Jeep on Thursday at Madison Square Garden. The postseason bid is the first for second-year Head Coach Patrick Ewing and the first postseason nod for the Hoyas since an NCAA Tournament berth in 2014-15.

The Hoyas have played in the NIT 12 times prior to this season and hold an all-time record of 15-13. Most recently, the Blue & Gray garnered an NIT bid in 2013-14, defeating West Virginia in the first round at McDonough Arena before falling on the road at Florida State.

Jessie Govan (Queens Village, N.Y. / Wings Academy) leads three Hoyas in double figures with 17.3 points per game while averaging 7.6 rebounds per game. He was tabbed All-BIG EAST First Team, named All-District II by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and selected as a top-five finalist for the 2019 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, recognizing the top center in men's college basketball.

James Akinjo (Oakland, Calif. / Salesian College Preparatory) and Mac McClung (Gate City, Va. / Gate City) add 13.3 and 13.2 ppg in the backcourt. Josh LeBlanc (Baton Rouge, La. / Madison Prep Academy) ranks second on GU in rebounding with 7.3 boards a contest and continues to be efficient in the offensive zone shooting 62.7 percent from the floor. Akinjo led the BIG EAST in assists with 169 on the season and was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. Along with the unanimous selection Akinjo, LeBlanc and McClung were also named to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team, only the second time a school had three representatives in league history.

Harvard (18-11) won its seventh Ivy League title but lost to Yale 97-85 in the championship game for the automatic berth in the NIT. Bryce Aiken leads the Crimson with 22.6 ppg while Noah Kirkwood and Chris Lewis are the only other double-digit scorers with 10.8 and 10.2 ppg, respectively. Justin Bassey is the top rebounder with 6.6 rpg and Christian Juzang has a team-high 70 assists.
 
Georgetown is 3-0 all-time against the Crimson with their last meeting coming on December 23, 2009. The Hoyas defeated Harvard 86-70 in the Nation's Capital. Chris Wright led the Blue & Gray with 34 points while Jeremy Lin scored a team-high 15 points for Harvard.

The winner of GU's showdown with Harvard will face the winner of Tuesday's matchup between second-seed NC State and seventh-seed Hofstra on the home court of the highest remaining seed.

For the fourth time in five years, the NIT will feature experimental rules intended to give the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee, the Division I Men's Basketball Oversight Committee and the Division I Men's Basketball Competition Committee data as well as feedback to assist in making decisions regarding rules changes.

The 2019 NIT will feature four rules modifications:
•    The 3-point line will be extended by approximately 1 foot, 8 inches to the same distance used by FIBA for international competition (22 feet, 1.75 inches).
•    The free throw lane will be widened from 12 feet to 16 feet, consistent with the width used by the NBA.
•    The shot clock will reset to 20 seconds after an offensive rebound instead of the full 30 seconds.
•    Team fouls will reset at the 10-minute mark of each half for the purpose of determining free throws and one-and-one free throws will be eliminated.  Teams will shoot two bonus free throws after the fifth team foul of each 10-minute segment.  Additionally, teams will be awarded two bonus free throws after the second team foul committed under two minutes remaining in each half if that foul occurs before the fifth team foul of the segment. In each overtime period, team fouls will reset, and teams will shoot two free throws beginning with the fourth team foul or the second team foul committed under two minutes remaining if that comes before the fourth team foul of the overtime period.