Previously announced in July, the Seawolves' most visible non-conference game will be a Nov. 13, 6 a.m., showdown at Rider that will be nationally televised on ESPN as part of the College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.
"Our non-conference schedule will most certainly challenge our student-athletes and prepare them for our conference schedule and for the America East Championship," Pikiell said. "I'm excited that our kids will get the opportunity to play on ESPN in a unique and exciting event, and I'm excited that they will play some of the best in college basketball in UConn, Maryland and Seton Hall."
Stony Brook will open the 2012-13 season at home against Mount Ida on Nov. 11. The Seawolves will be carrying a 14-game Pritchard Gymnasium winning streak into the game with the Mustangs.
Two days later, the Seawolves will play Rider in the College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon, looking for the same result as their last appearance in the event. Two years ago, Stony Brook topped Monmouth in the 6 a.m. game that was broadcast to over 100 million homes in the United States.
After a Nov. 15 game at Fairleigh Dickinson, the Seawolves return home for a Nov. 18 matchup with Sacred Heart in the first of a season home-and-home battle with the Pioneers.
In a unique weekend that mirrors tournament action, Stony Brook will play back-to-back games Thanksgiving weekend. On Nov. 24, the Seawolves host Canisius and then play at Connecticut the following day, Nov. 25. The matchup with the Huskies will reunite Pikiell with his alma mater and former coach Jim Calhoun. The game will be played either on campus in Storrs, Conn., or in Hartford at the XL Center.
After closing out November at Cornell (Nov. 28), the Seawolves will host Eastern Illinois on Dec. 1 in a return game from last season's matchup that took place in Charleston, Ill.
Stony Brook will then play a pair of local teams as it faces St. Francis (NY) in Brooklyn on Dec. 11 and then closes out the Sacred Heart home-and-home in Fairfield, Conn., on Dec. 18. The matchup with St. Francis will be just the second all-time and first since 1999 between two teams that are separated by less than 60 miles.
Just before winter break, the Seawolves will head to College Park, Md., to face the Terrapins for first time since 2000. The Dec. 21 game will be SB's first-ever appearance in the 18,000-seat Comcast Center.
The following week, Stony Brook will head to Newark's Prudential Center to face Seton Hall (Dec. 28) for the second time this calendar year. In the first round of the postseason NIT this past March, the Seawolves came within a basket of beating the Pirates on their home court.
The Seawolves close out the non-conference schedule on New Year's Day, Jan. 1, at Manhattan in a return game from the 2011 ESPN BracketBusters event.
Stony Brook, in Pikiell's eighth season as head coach, returns nine letterwinners and one redshirt freshman from last season's team that won the America East regular season championship and advanced to the postseason NIT for the second time in three seasons. The program has won 20+ games in two of the last three seasons and has produced a .500 or better America East record in each of the last four seasons.
Ticket information and the America East conference schedule will be forthcoming over the next few weeks.
2012-13 Stony Brook Men's Basketball Non-Conference Schedule
Date Opponent Time
NOVEMBER
Sat. 11 MOUNT IDA 4 p.m.
Tue. 13 at Rider (ESPN) 6 a.m.
Thu. 15 at Fairleigh Dickinson 7 p.m.
Sun. 18 SACRED HEART 2 p.m.
Sat. 24 CANISIUS 2 p.m.
Sun. 25 at Connecticut TBA
DECEMBER
Sat. 1 EASTERN ILLINOIS 2 p.m.
Tue. 11 at St. Francis (NY) 7 p.m.
Tue. 18 at Sacred Heart TBA
Fri. 21 at Maryland TBA
Fri. 28 at Seton Hall TBA
JANUARY
Tue. 1 at Manhattan 4 p.m.
