It was previously announced that Seattle University would start the 2010-11 season by heading to College Park, Md., to face the Maryland Terrapins of the Atlantic Coast Conference at the Comcast Center Monday, Nov. 8, at a time still to be announced. No matter what happens in that game, Maryland (24-9 in 2009-10) will advance to the championship round at Madison Square Garden in New York, facing Pittsburgh in the semifinals Thursday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. Eastern time.
As expected, Seattle University was placed in the Irvine, Calif., subregional of the tournament for three more games. Seattle U will first face Louisiana Tech (24-11 in 2009-10) of the Western Athletic Conference Friday, Nov. 19, at 5 p.m. at the Bren Events Center. The Redhawks defeated the Bulldogs, 61-46, in the first round of the 2008 Great Alaska Shootout on Thanksgiving night, the first victory for Seattle U men's basketball over a Division I opponent since starting the reclassification process.
Saturday, Nov. 20, at approximately 7:30 p.m., Seattle University will take on host school UC Irvine (14-18 in 2009-10) of the Big West Conference. Seattle U boasts dramatic victories over the Anteaters in each of the past two seasons, beginning with a 55-52 win on Dec. 16, 2008, at the Bren Events Center. On Dec. 15, 2009, at KeyArena at Seattle Center, the Redhawks pulled out an 82-81 victory over UC Irvine thanks to two free throws by Charles Garcia with 16 seconds left and tight Seattle U defense on the Anteaters' final possession.
In the final day of the subregional, Seattle University will take on Navy for the first time ever, with the game set to take place Sunday, Nov. 21, at 3 p.m. Navy, a member of the Patriot League, went 13-17 last season and returns three starters from last year's squad, including junior guard Jordan Sugars, the team's leading returning scorer after averaging 15.8 points per game as well as a team-high 8.0 rebounds per contest.
The Coaches vs. Cancer program, a collaboration between the American Cancer Society and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), exists to leverage the strength, community leadership, and celebrity status of the nation's basketball coaches in an effort to raise awareness and reduce cancer risk through education programs while raising funds for the American Cancer Society's vision of a world with less cancer and more birthdays. Since 1995, the event has raised more than $4.5 million for the benefit of Coaches vs. Cancer.
The 2010 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer is produced by The Gazelle Group in Princeton, N.J. The Gazelle Group is a sports marketing firm, specializing in event production and management, client representation, and sponsorship consulting. Gazelle produces numerous nationally-recognized events, such as the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic, the Legends Classic, and the College Basketball Invitational (CBI). For more information on The Gazelle Group, please visit gazellegroup.com.