Here’s the release from UConn announcing that the UConn Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams will participate in the 2012 Jimmy V Basketball Classic.
STORRS, Conn. – The University of Connecticut men’s basketball team will make its first appearance in the Jimmy V Basketball Classic when it challenges North Carolina State on Dec. 4, 2012, at Madison Square Garden.
Announced Wednesday morning by ESPN, which sponsors the annual event for the V Foundation for Cancer Research, the UConn-North Carolina State game is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. as the second half of a doubleheader that will feature Georgetown against Texas at 7 p.m. Both games will be televised by ESPN.
UConn and North Carolina State are each coming off 2012 NCAA Tournament appearances. The Huskies, 20-14 last season, bowed out with a loss to Iowa State in the tourney’s second round, while the Wolfpack, 24-13, lost to Kansas in the Sweet 16.
UConn and North Carolina State have split four meetings against each other. The Wolfpack won a 60-59 decision at Gampel Pavilion during the 1990-91 season, while UConn evened the score with an 81-74victory in Raleigh in 1992-93. The next two meetings between the teams came in NCAA Tournament play with the Huskies chalking up a 77-74 win in the second round of the 2002 East Regional in Washington, D.C. and the Wolfpack notching a 65-62 victory in the second round of the 2005 Syracuse Regional in Worcester, Mass.
The doubleheader will mark the 18th annual Jimmy V Basketball Classic, which was begun in 1995 to raise money for the V Foundation for Cancer Research, which has raised more than $120 million to fund cancer research grants. The V Foundation was founded by the late Jim Valvano, former head coach at North Carolina State and ESPN basketball analyst, who fell victim to the disease in 1993.
This is the 10th consecutive season that the Classic has been played at Madison Square Garden.
While it is UConn’s first appearance in the Jimmy V Classic, North Carolina State lost to Gonzaga 69-60 in the 2002 event. Texas has appeared twice, topping Villanova, 67-58, in 2008, and losing to Arizona, 91-83, in 2003. Georgetown has played in the event once, beating Butler, 72-65, in 2009.
The UConn women’s basketball team will also be appearing in the 2012 Jimmy V Women’s Classic, taking on Maryland on Dec. 3 at either Gampel Pavilion or the XL Center at 7 p.m. It will be the fifth time in the Jimmy V Classic for the Huskies, who have split their first four appearances.
Tickets for the Jimmy V Men’s Basketball Classic will go on sale in the fall via Ticketmaster and at the Madison Square Garden box office.
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