Stony Brook men and women’s basketball teams have announced their 2012-13 non-conference schedule.
The men’s schedule features games against 2011 NCAA national champion Connecticut on Nov. 25; 2002 NCAA national champion Maryland on Dec. 21; and Seton Hall on Dec. 28. It will also play a nationally televised 6 a.m. game and play four games at Pritchard Gymnasium.
The teams will open its season against Mount Ida on Sunday, Nov. 11. Stony Brook will take on Rider during the 6 a.m. game, which is part of the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon. Last time the Seawolves played in the 6 a.m. game was two years ago, when they beat Monmouth. That game was broadcast to more than 100 million homes across the United States.
Stony Brook will play at Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 15, and then will return home for a Nov. 18 game against Sacred Heart. It will then play back-to-back games Thanksgiving weekend. On Nov. 24, Stony Brook will host Canisius and then play Big East powerhouse UConn the next day.
The game against UConn will be a big one for coach Pikiell, as he will reunite with his alma mater and former coach, the legendary Jim Calhoun. The Seawolves finish the month of November at Cornell will then host Eastern Illinois on Dec. 1.
The Seawolves will play St. Francis (N.Y.) in Brooklyn on Dec. 11 and will travel to Sacred Heart on Dec. 18. The game against St. Francis will be the second one ever and first since 1999.
Stony Brook will travel to College Park, Md., to face Maryland for the first time since 2000. It will be the Seawolves’ first ever game at the 18,000-seat Comcast Center.
The following week, the Seawolves will travel to the Prudential Center in Newark to take on Seton Hall. They will finish out the non-conference schedule on New Year’s Day at Manhattan.
The team will return nine letterwinners and one redshirt freshman from last season’s team, which won the America East regular season championship and advanced to the post season NIT for the second time in three years.
The women’s schedule features a matchup with Rutgers and five home games at Pritchard Gymnasium. Stony Brook will play four teams that advanced to the postseason last season.
Stony Brook starts the season with two home games against Rider on Nov. 9 and Navy on Nov. 11. The team will then go on a four-game road trip against Morgan State on Nov. 18, Robert Morris on Nov. 28 and Youngstown State on Nov. 30. They also take on NJIT in Newark on Nov. 25.
The Seawolves will take on Sacred Heart, who won 25 games last season and advanced to the WBI, at home on Dec. 4. They will then travel to Fordham on Dec. 8. The team then takes on Fairleigh Dickinson and Saint Peter’s on Dec. 11 and Dec. 15, respectively.
Stony Brook will travel to Piscataway to face Rutgers for the first time in school history on Dec. 21. Rutgers went 22-10 last season and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the 10th straight season.
The Seawolves will then finish their non-conference schedule with a home game against Iona on Dec. 30.
Conference play will begin in January 2013 and will end with the America East Championship on March 8-10.
