University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware Announces 2015-16 Men's Basketball Schedule
8/25/2015 4:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware men's basketball team will face 10 squads that qualified for the postseason a year ago as the Blue Hens announced their challenging 2015-16 schedule on Tuesday.
The Blue Hens, who finished 10-20 overall and 9-9 in the Colonial Athletic Association a year ago, will play 11 non-conference games this season before opening up their 18-game conference slate at Hofstra on New Year's Eve.
Delaware, led by 10th-year head coach Monté Ross, opens its season at in-state rival Delaware State on Friday, Nov. 13, as the Blue Hens and Hornets will match up for the seventh consecutive season. UD has won six of its previous seven trips to Dover, including two straight in Memorial Hall Gym. The Blue Hens then head to Iona a week later on Nov. 20 to face the Gaels, who participated in the Postseason NIT last March. Delaware plays its home opener against Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 24, the first of 12 games at the Bob Carpenter Center this season.
The Blue Hens then head to the Liacouras Center on Nov. 29 to face Temple, which won 26 games last season and advanced to the semifinals of the Postseason NIT. The contest will be the fifth meeting between UD and Temple since 2009, but just the second to take place in North Philadelphia. Delaware then returns home to host Bradley on Dec. 1 and South Florida on Dec. 3, as the Braves and Bulls will be making their first ever trips to Newark.
UD closes the four-game, eight-day stretch at Columbia on Dec. 6, before heading to Marist on Dec. 12. Following a break for finals, the Blue Hens travel north to take on Atlantic Coast Conference foe Boston College on Dec. 19, and three days later head to The Pavilion to battle Villanova. The Wildcats, who have defeated UD in each of the last six seasons, won the Big East championship a year ago before earning a top seed in the NCAA Tournament, and are expected to be ranked in the preseason national polls.
After a week-long holiday break, the Blue Hens close their non-league slate on Dec. 29 at Buffalo, which captured the MAC title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament last spring.
The Blue Hens will then once again play 18 CAA games, facing all nine conference opponents both home and away, with the league moving to a Thursday/Saturday format this season. Delaware opens its CAA slate with a rare New Year's Eve contest at Hofstra, before hosting James Madison on Jan. 2.
UD travels north to face CAA defending champion Northeastern on Jan. 7, and then returns home for the first of two three-game homestands against UNCW, Towson and the Huskies. The Blue Hens will then play five of their next six contests on the road, including a pair of southern trips. The stretch concludes at William & Mary on Feb. 6, the first of two UD games to be televised nationally by NBC Sports Network.
Delaware enjoys another three-game homestand beginning Feb. 11 against rival Drexel, before its second NBCSN game against Hofstra on Feb. 13. The homestand concludes against Charleston, and following a pair of road games at James Madison and Drexel, UD concludes the regular season at home against Elon on Feb. 27.
The CAA Tournament will again return to Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore on Mar. 4-7.
For the second straight year, every conference game will be televised through partnerships with NBCSN, Comcast SportsNet and the American Sports Network, as well as CAA.TV, the conference's digital network. Games that will be televised on CSN and ASN have not yet been selected, and the full television schedule will be announced at the league's Media Day on Oct. 27. All dates and times are subject to change based on future television schedules.
UD men's basketball single game and season tickets will go on sale during the fall. Visit www.bluehens.com for additional information as it becomes available.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Kevin Tritt at: ktritt@udel.edu (email) / 302-831-8715 (office) / 302-383-5005 (cell)
