Iowa, Seton Hall to Clash in Gavitt Games

May 3, 2016

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The Big Ten and BIG EAST conferences jointly announced Tuesday the pairings for the second annual Gavitt Tipoff Games, which will tip off on eight campus sites the first full week of the college basketball season, Nov. 14-18.

The University of Iowa is scheduled to play Seton Hall on Thursday, Nov. 17, on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. The Pirates posted a 25-9 overall record and captured the 2016 BIG EAST Tournament title. Seton Hall competed in its 10th NCAA Tournament, ultimately losing to Gonzaga in the first round.

The Gavitt Tipoff Games is a unique early-season series played between the two conferences and named in honor of Dave Gavitt, founder of the BIG EAST and basketball visionary.

“The Gavitt Games is a special event that helps spark college basketball interest in early November,” said UI head coach Fran McCaffery. “Games of this magnitude are helpful in a number of ways and we’re excited to be included in the event again this year. We played a very good Marquette team on the road last year in this event and look forward to hosting a talented Seton Hall team in November.”

This will be the second meeting between the two schools. Iowa beat Seton Hall in the previous meeting, 85-63, on Dec. 29, 1982, in the Rochester Classic contested in Rochester, New York.

The annual series features renewed battles between local foes and attractive intersectional matchups. Eight teams in the event advanced to the NCAA Tournament and won at least 20 games last season.

Tip times and television information will be released at a later date. The BIG EAST home games will be telecast on FS1, while Big Ten home games will air on BTN or an ESPN network.

Below are the 2016 Gavitt Tipoff Games match-ups.

Monday, Nov. 14, 2016
Villanova at Purdue

Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016
Maryland at Georgetown
Wisconsin at Creighton
Villanova at Purdue

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016
Northwestern at Butler

Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016
Providence at Ohio State
Rutgers at DePaul
Seton Hall at Iowa

Friday, Nov. 18, 2016
St. John’s at Minnesota