UConn Men To Open Puerto Rico Tip-Off With College of Charleston

This in from UConn:

STORRS, Conn. – The bracket has been set for the 2014 Puerto Rico Tip-Off and the defending NCAA Champion UConn Huskies will open the holiday tournament against College of Charleston on Thursday, Nov. 20, at 12:30 p.m. (EST) at Coliseo Roberto Clemente (capacity: 10,000) in San Juan. The game will be televised on ESPNU.

The eighth annual Puerto Rico Tip-Off will be played on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, Nov. 20, 21 and 23. Additional schools competing in the early-season tournament are Boston College, Dayton, George Mason, New Mexico, Texas A&M and West Virginia. The three-day, 12-game  event will be televised by ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3. The final two Puerto Rico Tip-Off contests on November 23, including the championship game, will be showcased on ESPN2.

In the opening Puerto Rico Tip-Off games on November 20, Texas A&M will play Dayton at 10:30 a.m. (EST), followed by the UConn-Charleston game at 12:30 p.m. – both games will air on ESPNU.  The evening session on Thursday begins at 5 p.m. (EST) with New Mexico facing Boston College on ESPN2, followed by George Mason meeting West Virginia on ESPNU at 7:30 p.m. Locally, San Juan is on Atlantic Standard Time, one hour ahead of Eastern Time.

The losers of the opening two games will meet on Friday, Nov. 21, at noon (EST), while the winners will play in the first semifinal at 2:30 p.m. The second semifinal will begin at 5 p.m., while the second consolation game starts at 7 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 22, will be an off-day, with four games scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 23, including the championship game at 6:30 p.m. (EST).

UConn is 2-0 all-time against College of Charleston, defeating the Cougars, 68-52, on Nov. 24, 1990, in Gampel Pavilion and 77-60 on Dec. 27, 1995, in Charleston. Against the remainder of the teams in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, the Huskies are 0-2 against Dayton, 2-1 against Texas A&M, 55-35 against Boston College, 1-1 against New Mexico, 0-1 against George Mason and 16-5 against West Virginia.

In addition to NCAA Champion Connecticut (American Athletic), Elite 8 participant Dayton (Atlantic 10) and Mountain West postseason champion New Mexico played in the 2014 NCAA Tournament.  Other schools competing in the 2014 postseason were Texas A&M (Southeastern, CBI) and West Virginia (Big 12, NIT).  Boston College (Atlantic Coast), College of Charleston (Colonial) and George Mason (Atlantic 10) participated in their respective conference tournaments.

College of Charleston (2007), Dayton (2009), George Mason (2009) and West Virginia (2010) will be appearing in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off for the second-time. West Virginia advanced to the 2010 Puerto Rico Tip-Off championship game before losing 74-70 to Minnesota.

Charlotte captured the 2013 Puerto Rico Tip-Off as the 49ers upset nationally-ranked Michigan 63-61 in the finals.  In addition to Minnesota, other winners of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off include Miami (Fla., 2007); Xavier (2008); Villanova (2009); Alabama (2011) and Oklahoma State (2012).

For more information, please visit http://www.puertoricotipoff.com/.

Puerto Rico Tip-Off (Schedule subject to change,)