Louisville will face Northern Kentucky in NIT opener

Louisville’s first NIT appearance since 2006 will begin with a tilt against Horizon League regular season champion Northern Kentucky. The second-seeded Cardinals will host the Norse at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in a game that will be televised nationally by ESPN.

Here’s the full NIT bracket

As has been the case in recent years, the NIT will be experimenting with some new rules.

They are:

• The three-point line will be extended by approximately 20 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 games will be divided into four 10-minute quarters, as opposed to two 20-minute halves. Teams will shoot two free throws beginning with the fifth foul of each quarter.

The shot clock will reset to 20 seconds after an offensive rebound instead of the full 30 seconds.

So there’s that.