HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s basketball team will play at Hawai’i on Nov. 18 as part of the annual ESPN 24-hour College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon, the network announced Monday.
The Panthers will face off with Hawai’i at 5 a.m. EST on ESPN2 as part of the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic. The game will mark HPU’s first ESPN2 appearance since the 2004 Big South Tournament Final against Liberty.
“This is a fantastic national exposure opportunity for our program and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our student-athletes,” head coach Scott Cherry said. “We can’t wait to begin the season in Hawai’i.”
HPU also will square off with Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Bakersfield during the event.
High Point University’s participation in the Tip-Off Marathon will mark the third appearance by a Big South program in the event.
The Panthers are coming off one of the most successful seasons in program history. HPU won the Big South regular season title for the second-straight campaign and advanced to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) for the first time in school history. HPU returns all five starters and 12 of 16 letter winners from the 2013-14 season, including Big South Player of the Year and AP All-America honorable mention forward John Brown.
Overall, the team returns 85.5 percent of its scoring and 81.9 percent of its total rebounding from the 2013-14 campaign.
HPU has posted a Big South-best 24 league victories over the past two seasons and is the only conference team to appear in two-straight post-season tournaments (2014 NIT, 2013 CIT). High Point University is one of just 44 Division I programs to post a conference winning percentage of .750 or better over the past two campaigns.
Hawai’I returns 10 letter winners from a team that posted a 20-11 record last season, including a 9-7 record in Big West action. The Rainbow Waine’s win total was its highest in 10 years.
ABOUT THE COLLEGE HOOPS TIP-OFF MARATHON: ESPN’s annual College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon — more than 24 hours of consecutive coverage to mark the start of the 2014-15 season over Monday, Nov. 17 and Tuesday, Nov. 18 — will feature 19 men’s and women’s college basketball games across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. The schedule includes 17 men’s games and two top-25 women’s matchups concluding with the fourth annual State Farm Champions Classic from Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The neutral-site, early-season men’s doubleheader that matches four of the winningest programs against each other begins with College GameDay Covered by State Farm from inside the arena at 6:00 p.m. ET, followed by preseason-ranked No. 18 Michigan State vs. No. 2 Duke at 7:00 p.m. and No. 10 Kansas vs. No. 1 Kentucky at 9:00 p.m. — all on ESPN.
The Marathon will include nine straight games tipping off every two hours beginning Monday with an ESPN2 tripleheader at 7:00 p.m., 9:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., plus two games on ESPNU. ESPN’s schedule of five consecutive games starts at noon on Tuesday and concludes with the State Farm Champions Classic. ESPN2 will also televise a Tuesday primetime doubleheader at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
All telecasts will also be available through WatchESPN, accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app, and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 or Xbox One to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.
ABOUT HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS: High Point University Athletics fields 16 teams in NCAA Division I. The Panthers are members of the Big South Conference.