B-CU Ridder Announces 2018-19 Hoops Schedule

HEAD COACH RYAN RIDDER

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- Bethune-Cookman University men's basketball Head Coach Ryan Ridder has announced his team's 2018-19 schedule that features a daunting non-conference slate, 14 home games, and contests across 13 different states.

"We are very excited to announce our 2018-2019 schedule. Our staff has worked extremely hard to put together a challenging non-conference slate as well as welcome quality in state opponents to Historic Moore Gymnasium. We return a solid core group of guys and have added quality pieces to the mix. Our team is very enthusiastic about the challenges in the non-conference, but our goal is to be playing our best basketball in March," said Ridder.

Bethune-Cookman begins its quest for its first berth in the NCAA Tournament with two challenging road games. The season tips off on Wednesday, Nov. 7 at DePaul University in Chicago. The Wildcats venture further north to play Marquette University on Saturday, Nov. 10 in a game that is part of the NIT Season Tip-Off.

Marquette reached the quarterfinals of the 2018 NIT and has made 32 NCAA Tournament appearances, while DePaul has reached the Big Dance 22 times.

BCU opens its home schedule on Tuesday, Nov. 13 against Trinity Baptist College at Moore Gymnasium. The Wildcats will also host Johnson University (Nov. 15) and Nebraska-Omaha (Nov. 20) before hosting fellow Floridians Stetson (Nov. 26), Florida Atlantic (Dec. 1), and Jacksonville (Dec. 15).

The road schedule continues its challenges with ACC opponent and 2018 NCAA Tournament participant Miami on Nov. 17, and an early December California swing with games at St. Mary's, San Jose State, and Cal Poly. BCU closes 2018 with a frigid finish at Quinnipiac (Dec. 19) and Boston University (Dec. 21).

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season co-champions begin their defense with five road January games. The conference opener is against MEAC Tournament champ North Carolina Central on Jan. 5. The month brings journeys to Howard, Norfolk State, Morgan State, and Coppin State. BCU's first home MEAC game is set for Jan. 19 against Delaware State with a Monday matinee vs. UMES to follow on Jan 21.

The schedule flips in February with five games at Moore Gym and just two away from the World's Most Famous Beach. BCU hosts NCCU on Feb. 2 and North Carolina A&T State on Feb. 4.

The following weekend the Wildcats entertain Norfolk State and Howard while Daytona 500 weekend sends the 'Cats on a short trip to South Carolina State (Feb. 16) and Savannah State (Feb. 18).

The home schedule draws to an end against Florida A&M on Feb. 23 and SCSU on Mar. 2.

After the season finale at FAMU on Mar. 7, the 2019 MEAC Championship starts on Mar. 11 at Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va.

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