The College of Charleston men’s basketball team will open the 2014 Puerto Rico Tip-Off against defending national champion No. 17-ranked University of Connecticut. Tipoff between the Cougars and Huskies is slated for 12:30 p.m. (ET) on November 20, 2014 and the game will be televised live nationally on ESPNU.
The College will either play Texas A&M or 2014 NCAA Elite Eight participant Dayton in the next round on Friday, Nov. 21 at noon or 2:30 p.m. (ET).
ARTICLE: Read more about the game on CofCSports.com.
Here are three things to keep in mind as you watch the game:
1. This is the third time in five years that the Cougars will have faced the defending national champion in a regular-season game.
In the 2013-14 season, the College opened the season at No. 3-ranked Louisville as the Cardinals raised their championship banner. Four years ago, the Cougars also faced a defending national champion in perhaps one of the most memorable wins in school history. North Carolina, ranked No. 9 at the time and who won the national title in 2009, was upset by the “Giant Killers” in an 82-79 overtime thriller on Jan. 4, 2010 at TD Arena in Charleston, S.C.
VIDEO: Watch highlights of the Cougars upsetting No. 9 UNC.
2. College of Charleston’s Canyon Barry and Connecticut’s Sam Cassell, Jr., are both sons of former NBA greats.
Canyon’s dad, Rick Barry, was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in history by the NBA. Cassell’s dad, Sam Cassell played 15 years in the NBA and is currently an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers. You may remember Rick Barry for his underhanded freethrows, which his son has replicated.
VIDEO: Watch Canyon Barry shoot underhanded free throws during a game.
3. College of Charleston and Connecticut go way back.
The Cougars opened the historic 1990-91 season at Connecticut – the Cougars’ second and final season of NCAA compliance to gain Division I status. This will be their first meeting without the two coaching legends, John Kresse (CofC) and Jim Calhoun (Connecticut), on the sidelines.
