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Princeton University Athletics
Men's Hoops to Face N.C. State in Legends Classic
August 25, 2011 | Men's Basketball
North Carolina will again be an early-season destination for the Princeton men's basketball team as the Tigers will head to Raleigh to face North Carolina State on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. to compete in the TicketCity Legends Classic.
After Princeton faces N.C. State, it will resume its participation in the tournament in a three-day stretch at Bucknell from Nov. 25-27 where it will face subregional-host Bucknell (Nov. 25, 6 p.m.), Morehead State (Nov. 26, 2 p.m.) and West Alabama (Nov. 27, 2 p.m.).
The tournament, one of several operated by the Princeton, N.J.-headquartered Gazelle Group, is the third recent event run by that organization in which the Tigers will compete. Princeton also headed to North Carolina last November when it opened the season at Duke in the O'Reilly Auto Parts College Basketball Experience Classic. To cap the 2010 season, Princeton played in the College Basketball Invitational, winning games against Duquesne and IUPUI before falling in the semifinal at Saint Louis.
Three 2011 NCAA Tournament teams will be at the Bucknell-hosted subregional. The Bison, which Princeton defeated a year ago in the CBE Tournament at James Madison, won the Patriot League before falling to eventual NCAA champion Connecticut in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Morehead State pulled off one of the more remarkable upsets in the NCAA second round, knocking off in-state rival Louisville just before Princeton nearly did the same, coming up two points short of eventual Final Four team Kentucky.
North Carolina State is one of four regional hosts in the Legends Classic, along with Vanderbilt, Texas and Oregon State. Regardless of regional results, those four teams will advance to the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. to compete for the tournament title.
Princeton owns a 5-1 record all-time against N.C. State including wins in each of the last five contests. This will be Princeton's first visit to N.C. State's current home, the RBC Center, after defeating the Wolfpack in their final game at Reynolds Coliseum in the 1999 NIT in the teams' last meeting.
The Tigers hold a 10-3 record all-time against Bucknell with last November's meeting at James Madison as the most recent. This will be Princeton's first trip to Lewisburg, Pa., since 1999 and the team's first visit to Bucknell's current home, Sojka Pavilion. Princeton has never met Morehead State or West Alabama.
The Tigers, 25-7 overall and 12-2 in the Ivy League a year ago, are finalizing the details of their schedule and will announce it in full on GoPrincetonTigers.com when it is complete.