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Princeton University Athletics
Men's Hoops Team to Open Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Against Middle Tennessee
July 26, 2017 | Men's Basketball
Bracket (ET) | Bracket (HT)
The first meeting between Middle Tennessee's and Princeton's men's basketball teams will take place just more than 7,000 miles from the former's home and just less than 8,000 miles from the latter's.
ESPN announced that Middle Tennessee and Princeton are a first-round matchup for the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic at Honolulu's Stan Sheriff Center on Friday, Dec. 22 at 5:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. HT on ESPNU. Princeton will face either USC or Akron next, with Davidson-New Mexico State as one first-round game on the opposite side of the bracket and Miami-Hawai'i as the other. Princeton will already face Miami (Dec. 2) and USC (Dec. 19) in regular-season games, with the Miami game at the AmericanAirlines Arena, home of the Miami Heat, and the USC game at the Trojans' own Galen Center.
Every team will play three games in the event, and all of the games will be shown on the ESPN family of networks. The Blue Raiders were 31-5 a year ago, going 17-1 in league play to gain the top seed in the Conference USA Tournament, which Middle Tennessee won, and gaining a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament. There, the Blue Raiders upset fifth-seeded Minnesota before a second-round loss to a Butler team that Princeton will face in its opener on Nov. 12 in Indianapolis. JaCorey Williams, a 6-8 forward, Giddy Potts, a 6-2 guard, and Reggie Upshaw, a 6-8 forward, accounted for just short of 63 percent of the Blue Raiders' scoring last year, and of that trio, only Potts (15.3 ppg) is back. Rising senior Potts joins 6-1 rising sophomore guard Tyrik Dixon (5.6 ppg) and 6-2 rising senior guard Edward Simpson (3.5 ppg) as returning starters.
Princeton returns two starters in 6-1 rising junior guard Devin Cannady (13.4 ppg) and 6-5 rising junior guard Myles Stephens (12.5 ppg), two of the team's top four scorers a year ago. The Tigers went unbeaten in Ivy play a year ago and won the inaugural Ivy League Tournament before claiming a 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament and taking ACC Tournament runner-up Notre Dame to the final possession in the first round.
The tournament will bring Princeton to Hawaii for the fifth time in program history and the second time in as many seasons. Princeton played on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam last year as part of the Pearl Harbor Invitational.
The first meeting between Middle Tennessee's and Princeton's men's basketball teams will take place just more than 7,000 miles from the former's home and just less than 8,000 miles from the latter's.
ESPN announced that Middle Tennessee and Princeton are a first-round matchup for the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic at Honolulu's Stan Sheriff Center on Friday, Dec. 22 at 5:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. HT on ESPNU. Princeton will face either USC or Akron next, with Davidson-New Mexico State as one first-round game on the opposite side of the bracket and Miami-Hawai'i as the other. Princeton will already face Miami (Dec. 2) and USC (Dec. 19) in regular-season games, with the Miami game at the AmericanAirlines Arena, home of the Miami Heat, and the USC game at the Trojans' own Galen Center.
Every team will play three games in the event, and all of the games will be shown on the ESPN family of networks. The Blue Raiders were 31-5 a year ago, going 17-1 in league play to gain the top seed in the Conference USA Tournament, which Middle Tennessee won, and gaining a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament. There, the Blue Raiders upset fifth-seeded Minnesota before a second-round loss to a Butler team that Princeton will face in its opener on Nov. 12 in Indianapolis. JaCorey Williams, a 6-8 forward, Giddy Potts, a 6-2 guard, and Reggie Upshaw, a 6-8 forward, accounted for just short of 63 percent of the Blue Raiders' scoring last year, and of that trio, only Potts (15.3 ppg) is back. Rising senior Potts joins 6-1 rising sophomore guard Tyrik Dixon (5.6 ppg) and 6-2 rising senior guard Edward Simpson (3.5 ppg) as returning starters.
Princeton returns two starters in 6-1 rising junior guard Devin Cannady (13.4 ppg) and 6-5 rising junior guard Myles Stephens (12.5 ppg), two of the team's top four scorers a year ago. The Tigers went unbeaten in Ivy play a year ago and won the inaugural Ivy League Tournament before claiming a 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament and taking ACC Tournament runner-up Notre Dame to the final possession in the first round.
The tournament will bring Princeton to Hawaii for the fifth time in program history and the second time in as many seasons. Princeton played on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam last year as part of the Pearl Harbor Invitational.
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