Pitt State men ready to compete as at-large team in D2 Dance

The Pittsburg State men’s basketball team is also heading to the NCAA D2 tournament after earning an at-large bid as the fifth seed. 

The Gorillas—coming off a loss in the MIAA Conference title game last weekend against Northwest Missouri State—make their seventh trip all time to the dance and their first under second-year head coach Jeff Boschee, taking on fourth-seeded Minnesota State-Moorehead at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

“It’s big for our program,” Boschee said. “Pitt State hasn’t been there for quite a while. This is one of the reasons why we came over here—to try to rebuild this program and make it one of the best in the region, if not one of the best in the country as well.”

This is the first trip to the central regional for the men’s program since the 2014-15 season, where the Gorillas also matched up with the Dragons in a first-round matchup that ended with Moorehead walking away with an 80-68 win.

“I think the biggest thing is to go out, have fun and play free,” Boschee said about the wisdom he is passing down to his players. “Obviously, we need to play disciplined and continue to do the things we’ve worked on the entire year, but enjoy every second of it. I told the guys after were selected Sunday evening … to understand how fortunate you are to make the Division II Tournament because it’s hard.”