The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team enter the Region IX Tournament with plenty to gain and nothing to lose when they open play this Saturday on Powell, Wyoming.

                The Cougars will travel this weekend for a first-round game against Northwest College, a team that finished second in the North sub-region with an 8-4 record and 19-11 overall.

                WNCC went 5-9 in the South sub-region and 9-21 overall.

                Saturday's first-round game will tip off at 4 p.m. in Powell, Wyoming, with the winner advancing to the 3-day Region IX tournament that will held at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado, March 12-14. NJC and Laramie County Community College received a bye into the quarterfinals for winning the sub-region titles.

                The winner of the WNCC and Northwest game will face the winner of the (S3) North Platte hosting (N6) Central Wyoming game in the quarterfinals on March 12 at 5 p.m.

                Other first-round games on Saturday include (S2) Lamar Community College hosting (N7) Western Wyoming Community College, (N3) Casper College hosting (S6) Southeast Community College, (S4) McCook Community College hosting (N5) Eastern Wyoming College, and (N4) Gillette College hosting (S5) Trinidad State College.

                It will be the first time WNCC and Northwest will have played this season. The last time the two teams played each other was in last year's quarterfinals of the regional tournament when the Cougars won 86-67 in Gillette, Wyoming.

                The winner of the men's Region IX tournament will qualify for the NJCAA national tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas, March 21-28. The last time the Cougar men competed at the national tournament was 2018 and the last time the Cougars played in the Region IX finals was 2024.