LINCOLN, Neb. – The 2020 NCAA III Tournament continues on Saturday night (March 7) and will feature a Top 20 matchup of national contenders when No. 7 Nebraska Wesleyan University meets No. 16 Washington University of St. Louis at 7:30 pm in Snyder Arena.

Doors open at 6 pm and another large crowd is expected to fill Snyder Arena.  The winner of Saturday's game between the Prairie Wolves and Bears advances to the Sweet 16.

Nebraska Wesleyan (25-3) moved to the 2^nd round by rallying in the second half to avoid an upset bid with a 77-73 victory over Webster University in the opening round Friday night.  The 25 victories are tied for the fourth highest single season winning total in program history.  Three of the top four single season win totals have occurred in the past four seasons with this senior class that now has exactly 100 wins.

Clay Reimers scored a career-high 29 points on Friday night to lead the Prairie Wolves, who were playing their second straight game without Conference MVP Nate Schimonitz.  Four NWU players scored in double figures in the game that saw the Prairie Wolves shoot 64% in the second half.  Jack Hiller scored all 14 of his points in the second half, making 4-6 from 3-point land.  His 83 3-pointers this year are tied for 5^th most on the NWU all-time charts.  Nate Bahe dished out a season-high eight assists and scored 16 points.  Dylan Dirks, who will be playing his 114^th game on Saturday, added 12 points.

Wash U (21-5) advanced to Saturday's matchup with an easy 102-68 win over Bethany Lutheran.  The Bears shot 58.9% from the field, outscored BLC 58-30 in the paint and held a 46-22 advantage in rebounding.  Guard Jack Nolan scored a game-high 29 points, with forward DeVaughn Rucker posting a very impressive double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds making 10-12 from the field.

NWU and WashU have a history in the NCAA III Tournament.  The last time the two teams played in the tournament was the 1988 NCAA III Tournament in Lincoln with NWU winning 58-55 to advance to the Final Four.  Overall, the two teams have met six times with the series tied at 3-3.  They last met in November of 2000 in Jacksonville, Ill.

The two teams have three common opponents on the year; Coe, Webster and Chicago.  WashU defeated Coe 93-79 on Nov. 22, and NWU defeated the Kohawks three times.  In conference play, the Bears split with University of Chicago recently losing 77-70 in the regular season finale.  NWU edged Chicago 81-79 on their home court Nov. 24.  WashU took down their cross-town foe Webster 80-58 on Nov. 26 and NWU defeated the Gorloks by four points last night.