ESPN Announces January 30 MAAC Wildcard Games
MAAC Sports
EDISON, N.J. – ESPN has announced the two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men’s basketball wildcard matchups for Jan. 30. Niagara University will host the Marist Red Foxes at 7 p.m. on ESPN3, and Fairfield welcomes Monmouth to Webster Bank Arena at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.
The meeting between the Purple Eagles and Red Foxes will be the first of the season between the two schools, as they will meet again on Feb. 6 in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Last year the teams split the two regular season matchups, as each squad secured a win on its home court. The teams met again in the opening round of the 2014 MAAC Basketball Championships, with Niagara coming away with a 78-76 victory. Marist nearly erased a 24-point deficit, but fell short in the come-from-behind effort.
The Jan. 30 ESPNU contest featuring the Hawks and Stags will be the second meeting of the season between the two schools. The teams will face each other less than two weeks earlier on Jan. 18.
During the 2013-14 campaign Monmouth and Fairfield also split the regular season series. The Hawks topped the visiting Stags, 63-60, on Jan. 23 at the MAC, while Fairfield later evened the score on Feb. 7 with a 60-56 win in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Currently, the Hawks stand at a perfect 4-0 in league play to maintain sole possession of first place.
A total of 47 games will be nationally televised on the ESPN networks during the 2014-15 campaign, which includes 37 regular season contests and 10 contests at the 2015 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York.
This season’s MAAC television schedule features an all-time high of 11 wildcard games. The wildcard format allows ESPN to pick any game on schedule for the selected date to be air on the designated platform (ESPN2, ESPNU, or ESPN3). ESPN announces which game it selects for the wildcard telecast 21 days out. The format enables the MAAC and ESPN flexibility to showcase the best possible matchups.
The 2015 season culminates at the 2015 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York March 5-9. Tickets for the championships are available online at ticketmaster.com.
For the full men’s basketball schedule, visits maacsports.com and remember to follow the conversation on twitter using #MAACHoops and #MAACHoops15.