NSU Reveals 2015-16 Men’s Basketball Schedule

NORFOLK, Virginia -- Two tournaments, several trips to high-major opponents and of course a showdown with crosstown rival Old Dominion highlight the non-conference schedule for the Norfolk State men's basketball team this upcoming season. In addition, NSU will face its normal allotment of 16 MEAC games, including eight at home, as the program revealed its entire 2015-16 schedule on Tuesday.

The Spartans will play 11 home games altogether this year and are guaranteed to face at least 11 opponents who played in the postseason last year.

2015-16 NSU Men's Basketball Schedule

"Last year we had one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in the country, and this year's schedule looks to be as tough or even tougher than last year," said head coach Robert Jones. "This schedule will test our team early and often, and we are excited about the challenge for this year's young group."

One of the highpoints of the non-conference schedule is the renewal of the crosstown series with Old Dominion. The two teams have not played since the 2000-01 season. NSU will compete at ODU's Ted Constant Center on Dec. 29 at 7 p.m.

"The highlight of the schedule for local Spartan fans will be the return of our crosstown rival game vs. ODU," said Jones. "We haven't played them in 15 years. We as a staff have been diligently trying for two seasons to get this done and now it is finally here. This year ODU should be extremely good, and it will be a great challenge for us."

As was previously announced, NSU will play in a pair of tournaments this year, the 2015 Paradise Jam and the Sun Bowl Invitational. The Spartans open up their part of the Paradise Jam against Indiana State on Nov. 20 at 4 p.m. EST. NSU will face either Ohio or Tulsa on Nov. 21 or 22 followed by one last game on Nov. 23 in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands against one of the foursome of Hofstra, DePaul, South Carolina or Florida State. NSU will make its third appearance in the tournament, the format of which is an eight-team bracket.

The Spartans also make their second appearance in the Sun Bowl Invitational hosted by UTEP. NSU will take on the host Miners on Dec. 21 in El Paso, Texas, followed by either UC Irvine or Sam Houston State the next day. All three of NSU's potential opponents in the Sun Bowl Invite competed in the postseason last year.

The 2015-16 season officially begins for NSU at South Carolina on Nov. 14, which will be followed by a contest against Washington Adventist on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. in the first home game of the year for the Spartans. After competing in the Paradise Jam, NSU makes a return trip to Northern Arizona on Nov. 30 to complete a home-and-home deal.

On Dec. 2, the Spartans host Mercy College at 7 p.m. at Joseph Echols Hall before playing eight straight games on the road during the next month. That journey will begin on Dec. 7 with a MEAC game at Coppin State. The Spartans then play three games in five days in a trip that will start at Northern Kentucky on Dec. 13 and will include stops at Cincinnati (Dec. 15) and Evansville (Dec. 17).

After two contests in the Sun Bowl Invitational, NSU will play at ODU after the Christmas holiday and then at Alabama on Jan. 2. The non-conference season finishes up with a home game against Princeton on Jan. 5 at 7 p.m., the second of a home-and-home series with the Tigers.

Evansville defeated Northern Arizona for the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) championship last year, while Cincinnati (NCAA) and ODU and Alabama (NIT) also played in the postseason last season.

"Challenging ourselves against other quality opponents such as Cincinnati, Alabama, Evansville and in the prestigious Sun Bowl tournament will help us prepare for a well-balanced MEAC schedule this year," Jones continued. "We are also thrilled about continuing our home-and-home series with Northern Arizona and Princeton and starting a new one with Northern Kentucky."

NSU will host Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman on Jan. 9 and 11, respectively, to kick start the full conference schedule. The Spartans make a trip to North Carolina Central (Jan. 16) and North Carolina A&T (Jan. 18) the following weekend, the first time in four years NSU will play at N.C. A&T and the first game at NCCU in five seasons for the Spartans.

They will then return home to take on South Carolina State (Jan. 23) and Savannah State (Jan. 25) after playing at those two schools each of the last three years.

The month of January will come to a close with the Battle of the Bay at Hampton on Jan. 30. Two more road games at Howard on Feb. 6 and UMES on Feb. 8 will follow, and then the Spartans will welcome Morgan State to town on Feb. 13 and Coppin State on Feb. 20.

The Spartans travel to Delaware State for a road contest on Feb. 22 and then a rare Wednesday MEAC game on Feb. 24 at Morgan State.

The regular season comes to a close with home matchups against Howard (Feb. 29) and Hampton (March 3). All MEAC home games this year will start at their usual 6 p.m. time on Saturdays and at 8 p.m. on Mondays.

This season's MEAC schedule also mirrors last year's slate, just with the home and away designations switched. Hampton (NCAA), N.C. Central (NIT), UMES (CIT) and Delaware State (CBI) all competed in the postseason last year as well.

The 2016 MEAC tournament runs from March 7-12 at Scope Arena.

NSU brings back six letterwinners from last year's team that finished 20-14 overall and 12-4 in MEAC play. The Spartans welcome six scholarship newcomers to this year's squad, including two freshmen and four junior college transfers.

NORFOLK STATE SPARTANS 2015/16 MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

Date		Opponent	Location	Time/Result
11/14/2015		South Carolina	Columbia, S.C.	TBA
11/17/2015		Washington Adventist	Norfolk, Va.	7 p.m.
2015 Paradise Jam
11/20/2015		Indiana State	St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.	4 p.m.
11/21-22/2015		Ohio/Tulsa	St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.	2:30/6:30 p.m.
11/23/2015		TBD	St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.	TBD
11/30/2015		Northern Arizona	Flagstaff, Ariz.	TBA
12/2/2015		Mercy College	Norfolk, Va.	7 p.m.
12/7/2015	*	Coppin State	Baltimore, Md.	7:30 p.m.
12/13/2015		Northern Kentucky	Highland Heights, Ky.	TBA
12/15/2015		Cincinnati	Cincinnati, Ohio	TBA
12/17/2015		Evansville	Evansville, Ind.	TBA
Sun Bowl Invitational
12/21/2015		UTEP	El Paso, Texas	9 p.m.
12/22/2015		UC Irvine/Sam Houston State	El Paso, Texas	7/9 p.m.
12/29/2015		Old Dominion	Norfolk, Va.	7 p.m.
1/2/2016		Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Ala.	TBA
1/5/2016		Princeton	Norfolk, Va.	7 p.m.
1/9/2016	*	Florida A&M	Norfolk, Va.	6 p.m.
1/11/2016	*	Bethune-Cookman	Norfolk, Va.	8 p.m.
1/16/2016	*	North Carolina Central	Durham, N.C.	4 p.m.
1/18/2016	*	North Carolina A&T	Greensboro, N.C.	7:30 p.m.
1/23/2016	*	South Carolina State	Norfolk, Va.	6 p.m.
1/25/2016	*	Savannah State	Norfolk, Va.	8 p.m.
1/30/2016	*	Hampton	Hampton, Va.	6 p.m.
2/6/2016	*	Howard	Washington, D.C.	4:30 p.m.
2/8/2016	*	UMES	Princess Anne, Md.	7:30 p.m.
2/13/2016	*	Morgan State	Norfolk, Va.	6 p.m.
2/20/2016	*	Coppin State	Norfolk, Va.	6 p.m.
2/22/2016	*	Delaware State	Dover, Del.	7:30 p.m.
2/24/2016	*	Morgan State	Baltimore, Md.	7 p.m.
2/29/2016	*	Howard	Norfolk, Va.	8 p.m.
3/3/2016	*	Hampton	Norfolk, Va.	8 p.m.
3/7-12/2016		MEAC Tournament	Norfolk, Va.	TBD

Mike Bello, Asst. SID
COURTESY NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS