The bracket has been released for the 2015 Wooden Legacy, which is set for November 26-29 in Anaheim, Calif. The University of Evansville men’s basketball team will face off against Big East for Providence in its opening tilt in the event.
Evansville and Providence will tangle on Thursday, November 26 at 8 p.m. CT. The first two rounds of the game will take place at Titan Gym on the campus of Cal State Fullerton while the final round will be held at the Honda Center in Anaheim. The opening game will be televised live on ESPNU.
The winner of that first contest will face off against the winner of the Arizona/Santa Clara game, which will begin at 10:30 p.m. CT. That game is set for Friday, Nov. 27 at 10 p.m. CT while the losers of those two games play at 7:30 p.m. CT. On the other side of the bracket, UC Irvine and Boise State tangle at 3 p.m. CT with Boston College and Michigan State following that game.
A stacked field of eight squads looks to advance to the championship game, which will be held at the Honda Center on Sunday, November 29 at 9 p.m. CT. That game is set to be broadcasted on ESPN2.
“We are excited to open up the Wooden Legacy against Providence,” Purple Aces head coach Marty Simmons said. “They have a program that has been on the rise over the last few years and will provide a great challenge for our team.”
UE is coming off of its best season in over 20 years, going 24-12 en route to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament Championship. The Aces return all five starters from the team, including All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team players D.J. Balentine and Egidijus Mockevicius.
Providence has been on a roll over the last three years, winning at least 19 games each season. Last year, the Friars went 22-12 before falling to Dayton in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2013-14, they took the Big East Championship, taking down Creighton by a final of 65-58 at Madison Square Garden. They fell to Dayton in the NCAA Tournament, finishing the season 23-12.
In 2012-13, the Friars went 19-15 on their way to a berth in the NIT. In that run, they advanced all the way to the quarterfinals before falling in a road contest at Baylor.
This is set to be the second meeting against the Friars for the Purple Aces. The first meeting came on the road in Providence on Dec. 11, 1975 as the Friars took a 98-71 win.
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