Louisville and Memphis Headline Gotham Classic

Louisville and Memphis headline Gotham Classic

Will square off on Dec. 16 at Madison Square Garden. Tickets now on sale.
Revised June 8, 2017

17GOTHAM_TeamsPRINCETON, N.J. – National powers Louisville and Memphis headline the field of the fifth annual Gotham Classic, which tips off on Dec. 6.

Highlighting the Gotham Classic will be a Dec. 16 matchup between Louisville, a consensus top-five preseason pick for the 2017-18 season, and Memphis at Madison Square Garden. The game at The Garden will mark the 90th time that the Cardinals and Tigers will meet. Louisville holds a 53-36 advantage but Memphis won the last two matches held during the 2013-14 season. In the first game, the Tigers took a 73-67 decision at Louisville on Jan. 9. Memphis then came away with a 72-66 home win on Mar. 1. The two programs combine for 68 NCAA Tournament appearances and 13 Final Four berths.

Tickets for the Louisville-Memphis clash are on sale and can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at 866-448-7849 or through Ticketmaster.com

Joining the Cardinals and Tigers in the Gotham Classic are Albany, Bryant and Siena. Louisville and Memphis will each host those three teams in addition to playing each other at Madison Square Garden. Albany, Bryant and Siena will also play a round-robin with Siena hosting Albany, Albany hosting Bryant, and Bryant hosting Siena.

— SHOWCASE GAME —
Madison Square Garden – New York, N.Y.
December 16 – 12:00pm ET
Louisville vs. Memphis

 

GOTHAM CLASSIC GAME SCHEDULE
Dec. 6 – Siena at Louisville
Dec. 6 – Bryant at Albany
Dec. 9 – Bryant at Memphis
Dec. 9 – Albany at Siena
Dec. 11 – Bryant at Louisville
Dec. 12 – Albany at Memphis
Dec. 17 – Siena at Bryant
Dec. 20 – Albany at Louisville
Dec. 20 – Siena at Memphis

In the 2016 Gotham Classic, Massachusetts won all four of its games in capturing the title.

Louisville (Head Coach: Rick Pitino, Atlantic Coast Conference) – In 31 seasons as a college head coach, 2013 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Rick Pitino has led his teams to 770 wins, is the only coach to win an NCAA Championship at two different schools (Kentucky 1996; Louisville 2013), and the first to take three different teams to the Final Four…in 16 years at Louisville, he has led the Cardinals to 416 wins, which includes a 25-9 mark and a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2016-17…two of the top three scorers at Louisville all return, led senior Quentin Snider, who tallied 12.4 ppg and 115 assists, and junior Deng Adel, who posted 12.1 ppg and 4.5 rpg…they will be joined by five-star recruits, forwards Brian Bowen and Malik Williams…Louisville has been to 42 NCAA Tournaments, including 10 Final Fours, and has won three national championships, the last coming in 2013.

Memphis (Head Coach: Tubby Smith, American Athletic Conference) – Tubby Smith recently completed his first season at Memphis, leading the Tigers to 19 wins with a team that featured eight freshmen and sophomores…in a career that has spanned 26 years, Smith has won 576 games, which includes guiding Kentucky to the 1998 National Championship…junior guard Jeremiah Martin (10.3 ppg, 142 assists) and senior forward Jimario Rivers (6.4 ppg) headline the returning players…the roster will be bolstered with the debuts of Kareem Brewton and Kyvon Davenport, each of whom were named junior college first-team All-Americans last season…the Tigers have been to 26 NCAA Tournament and three Final Fours.

Albany (Head Coach: Will Brown, America East Conference) – In 16 seasons at Albany, Will Brown has guided the Great Danes to 260 wins, five NCAA Tournaments, five America East titles, six straight postseason berths, and this past year’s 21-14 record, the third-straight 20-win season at Albany…nine players on this year’s roster return next season, including each of the Great Danes’ top five scorers, led by first-team All-America East Conference junior guard David Nichols (17.9 ppg, 111 assists) and second-team selection junior guard Joe Cremo (15.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 134 assists)…Albany has been to the NCAA Tournament five times.

Bryant (Head Coach: Tim O’Shea, Northeast Conference) – Entering his 10th season, Tim O’Shea has been at the helm on the Bryant program since joining the Division I ranks in 2008…with a CBI berth under their belts, the Bulldogs are looking to take the next step and will do so with three starters and four of their top six scorers returning in 2017-18…leading the pack is sophomore Adam Grant, who garnered NEC All-Rookie acclaim for averaging 13.4 ppg this past season…also returning is senior swingman Bosko Kostur, who averaged 9.6 points and shot a team-best 41.8 percent from 3-point range…Bryant previously played in the 2013 Gotham Classic.

Siena (Head Coach: Jimmy Patsos, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) – Jimmy Patsos has been at Siena for four seasons and has led the Saints to 69 wins, including a pair of 20-win seasons, and the 2014 CBI championship…in 13 seasons as a head coach, he has 214 career victories, which includes this past year’s 17-17 mark which saw the Saints advance to the title game of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship…the Saints return eight players this coming season, seven of whom are letterwinners, including junior guard Nico Clareth, who netted 13.7 ppg last season, and sophomore guard Ashante Shivers (4.0 ppg)…the Saints have been to six NCAA Tournaments.


The Gotham Classic is produced by the Gazelle Group of 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 2K Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project, the Legends Classic, and the College Basketball Invitational presented by Five Four. For more information on the Gazelle Group, please visit gazellegroup.com.

The Northeast Conference (NEC) is the sponsoring conference of the Gotham Classic. Entering its 37th season, the NEC is a NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. For more information on the NEC, visit the official website at www.northeastconference.org or follow on Twitter @NECsports.

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