Valparaiso Earns No. 14 seed, Will Meet Michigan State to Open NCAA Tournament

2013 NCAA Tournament Bracket

INDIANAPOLIS – Horizon League Tournament champion Valparaiso received a No. 14 seed to the NCAA Tournament and will play No. 3 Michigan State on Thursday, March 21 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich.

The game time will be announced on Monday.

Valparaiso (26-7) captured both the Horizon League regular season and tournament championship, setting a program Division I record for wins in the process. The Crusaders captured the Horizon League’s automatic bid in dramatic fashion, using a Ryan Broekhoff buzzer-beating three to reach the finals and then went on an 18-4 closing run to rally past Wright State in the conference championship.

The Crusaders are among the nation’s most effective shooting teams, posting a 56.1-percent effective field-goal percentage, the fourth-best rate in the country. Valpo’s 56.1-percent two-point field goal percentage is third in the nation.

Michigan State tied for second in the Big Ten this season before bowing out in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. The Spartans are among the nation’s elite defensive teams, boasting an adjusted defensive efficiency of 87.3, ranking seventh in the country.

The NCAA Tournament appearance is the first for Valparaiso under the Horizon League banner and the program’s first since the 2004 Tournament. The Crusaders and Spartans have met twice, with Michigan State holding a 2-0 record.

Horizon League teams have won NCAA Tournament games in seven of the last eight seasons. Valparaiso’s last NCAA win came in the 1998 season, when the Crusaders reached the Sweet 16.