For the third straight year Northwestern has earned a bid in the National Invitational Tournament, tournament officials announced Sunday. The bid marks the Wildcats’ sixth overall showing at the postseason tournament.

NU (18-13), seeded fourth, will host Milwaukee (19-13) at Welsh-Ryan Arena at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the opening round of the tournament. The Cats last hosted a NIT game in 1994 when NU took down DePaul 69-68.

NU’s last shot at making the NCAA Tournament was denied in a 67-61 overtime loss to No. 1 Ohio State on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. The Cats needed to win the conference championship in order to secure a berth in the tourney and end what is now a 73-year Big Dance drought.

“So it’s disappointing we won’t be – probably won’t be playing in the NCAA tournament,” said junior forward John Shurna after Friday’s loss. “But hopefully it will be good for our school and for the program to make the NIT.”

The winner of Wednesday’s game will face either top-seeded Boston College or eighth-seeded McNeese State in the next round of the NIT.

Tickets are free for undergraduate students with a valid WildCARD and $20 for the general public. They go on sale at 9 a.m. Monday via NUsports.com or by calling 888-GO-PURPLE.