If Auburn was disappointed by its NCAA tournament snub, it didn’t show it Wednesday night.

The Tigers hung on for an 87-82 victory against UT-Martin in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum, the team’s first postseason win in six years.

DeWayne Reed and Quantez Robertson both set career highs, finishing with 23 and 19 points, respectively, as Auburn (23-11) overcame Sunday’s disappointment of being left out of the NCAA tournament’s field of 65.

“The kids practiced their tails off Monday. Didn’t say a word about it,” said Auburn coach Jeff Lebo, who thought his team had a good case to make the NCAA bracket after winning nine of 11 to finish the regular season. “I’m just proud of them. It’s been a heck of a ride.”

The Tigers, who are the top seed in their bracket, advance to the NIT’s second round on Friday at 8 p.m. EDT, when they will host Tulsa.

Some thoughts on the game ...

• Oh boy, is UT-Martin's Lester Hudson a player. He got off to a slow start but made up for it in a 33-point effort, going 12-for-24 from the floor. He was driving, pulling up for jumpers and hitting bombs from long range. It didn't look like there was a weakness in his game.

• Lebo was impressed with Hudson, Part I: “He’s special. You can see why NBA people love him. He doesn’t just score. He can pass. His IQ is very high. He was really good tonight, really kept them in the game with how he played.”

• Lebo was impressed with Hudson, Part II: "That was as good as I’ve seen in a long time."

• Lebo was impressed with Hudson, Part III: "I know (Stephen) Curry is pretty good, but if he’s better than that, I’d like to see him."

• In summary, Lebo was impressed with Hudson, who added 12 points and seven assists.

• Back to Auburn, which made a season-high 14 3-pointers. Reed had five. Robertson, Rasheem Barrett, Lucas Hargrove and Frankie Sullivan each added two.

• Free throws nearly derailed the Tigers down the stretch. They went 21-for-35 from the line (60%) after shooting them pretty well during their hot streak at the end of the season.

• Tez was spectacular offensively after being the exact opposite of that all season. It was the first time he reached double figures in points since December and just the fourth time all season. He made more than one 3-pointer for just the second time this year. And his season-long Kryptonite, the free throw line, was no problem. He canned all five of his free ones Wednesday.

• Tez admitted that he knows the clock is winding down on his college career: "I think that’s what motivated us today," he said. "It could have been our last game."