BERKELEY – California men's basketball (21-12) earned a No. 1 seed in the National Invitation Tournament and will face CSU Bakersfield (22-9) in its first round game.  The action tips off on Tuesday, March 14 in Haas Pavilion at 8:15 p.m. PT, live on ESPN2.

The winner of Cal-CSU Bakersfield will face the winner of the Colorado State (23-11) Charleston (25-9) matchup in the second round. Because Cal is the top seed, the Golden Bears would host each round until the semifinals, which are held in Madison Square Garden along with the NIT Championship game.

Cal is making its ninth appearance in the NIT and its first since 2014. The Golden Bears reached the third round of the NIT in 2014, falling to SMU, 67-65, in the quarterfinals when the Golden Bears' current seniors were freshmen. Cal's best result at the NIT came in 1999 when the Golden Bears beat Clemson, 61-60, in the championship game at Madison Square Garden.

The Bears enter the NIT Tournament as one of the top defensive teams in the nation, leading the Pac-12 and ranking 19^th in Division I in both scoring defense (63.1 points per game) and opponent field goal percentage (39.9 percent).  Cuonzo Martin's squad has also been dominant on the boards, ranking 13^th nationally with a rebound margin of +7.1 rebounds per game. First-team All-Pac-12 selection Ivan Rabb is averaging 10.5 rebounds per game this season and has 17 double-doubles on the year, the most by any player in the Pac-12 this season.

Offensively, the Bears have four players averaging double-figures, led by senior Jabari Bird at 14.3 points per game. Rabb is second on the team in scoring, averaging 14.0 points per game and shooting 48.4 percent from the field.  Freshman point guard Charlie Moore is averaging 12.5 points per game while graduate transfer Grant Mullins adds 10.3 points per game and is coming off a 23-point performance against Oregon in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament, going 5-5 from beyond the arc.

This is the fourth time head coach Cuonzo Martin has directed his squad to an NIT, notching a 2-3 record in the NIT postseason. He took Missouri State to the NIT in 2011 and Tennessee to the NIT in both 2012 and 2013.

Three of the last four times Cal has reached the NIT, the Bears made it to the NCAA Tournament the following season.

Tickets will be made available to the general public on March 13th at 2 p.m. Season ticket holders and donors will have a presale opportunity starting at 9 a.m. and lasting until noon on Monday, March 13. All season ticket holders will be placed in the same seats as their season tickets as long as they purchase tickets in the same price level as their season tickets. Season ticket holders with floor seats and/or loge seats must call the Cal Athletics service team at 1-800-GOBEARS during the onsale to secure seats. All donors without season tickets will be placed in the best available seats.