HONOLULU, Hawaii – Washington State University men's basketball will face 2015 NCAA Tournament 'Sweet 16' participant, Oklahoma, in its first game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 8 p.m. PT/6 p.m. HT at the Stan Sheriff Center on the campus of Hawaii at Honolulu, ESPN Regional Television (ERT), announced Thursday.
The matchup between the Cougars and the Sooners will be televised on ESPNU. The other three matchups scheduled for Dec. 22 start with the morning session which begins with Auburn taking on New Mexico in the first game of the day at 11:30 a.m. PT (9:30 a.m. HT), followed by BYU against Harvard at 1:30 p.m. PT (11:30 a.m. HT). In the second half of the bracket, the evening session, Northern Iowa will take on tournament-host Hawaii following the WSU-Oklahoma game at 10 p.m. PT (8 p.m. HT). Depending on the outcome of both games, the Cougars will take on either Northern Iowa or Hawaii on the second day of action. All four games Tuesday will be televised on ESPNU.
Washington State has faced Oklahoma just once in the two team's histories, also an ERT Tournament, the 2011 76 Classic at Anaheim, Calif. The Sooners defeated the Cougars in that game, 74-59. The Cougars hold a 5-1 record against Hawaii and have won four-straight in the series. The last meeting between the two teams was in the Rainbow Classic, Dec. 29, 1991, a 63-61 WSU win. This season marks the second time WSU has participated in the Diamond Head Classic. The Cougars fell to Butler in the championship game of the 2010 tournament after defeating Mississippi State and No. 15 Baylor in the first two rounds. The Cougars hold an 82-81 all-time record in regular season tournaments, dating back to the 1954-55 season.
The second day of action starts Wednesday, Dec. 23 with Consolation #1 which will pit the losers of Auburn versus New Mexico and BYU versus Harvard against each other at 11:30 a.m. PT (9:30 a.m. HT). Semifinal #1 which features the winners of those two games will tip at 1:30 p.m. PT (11:30 a.m. HT). The second session kicks off with Semifinal #2 which features the winners of the games between Oklahoma and Washington State and Northern Iowa against Hawaii, at 6 p.m. PT (4 p.m. HT) and will be followed by Consolation #2 in which the losers of those two games take on each other at 8:30 p.m. PT (6:30 p.m. HT). Semifinal #2 will air on ESPN2, as the other three games will be shown on ESPNU.
The teams get Dec. 24 off from game action and will take to the court for the final time on Christmas Day, Dec. 25. The seventh and fifth-place games will take place at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. PT (8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. HT) (the order has not yet been decided), followed by the third-place game at 3:30 p.m. PT (1:30 p.m. HT) and finally the championship game at 5:30 p.m. PT (3:30 p.m. HT). The first two games will be shown on either ESPNU or ESPN3 and the third-place and championship games will air on ESPN2.
Four of the participating teams appeared in the 2014-15 postseason, including BYU, Harvard, Northern Iowa and Oklahoma.
For more information, please visit www.HawaiianAirlinesDiamondHeadClassic.com.
ESPN Events
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a large portfolio of collegiate sporting events worldwide. The roster includes three Labor Day weekend college football games; 13 college bowl games, 10 college basketball events and two college award shows, which accounts for approximately 250-plus hours of programming, reaches almost 64 million viewers and attracts over 700,000 attendees each year. With satellite offices in Boca Raton, Boise, Birmingham, Dallas-Fort Worth, Albuquerque, St. Petersburg and Las Vegas, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans. ESPN Events also manages the Big 12 Corporate Partner Program.
Collegiate Basketball
AdvoCare Invitational (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); Armed Forces Classic (MarineCorps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler, Okinawa, Japan); DIRECTV Wooden Legacy (Orange County, Calif.); College Basketball Awards Presented by Wendy's (Los Angeles); Gildan Charleston Classic (South Carolina); Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Jimmy V Men's Classic Presented by Corona (New York City); Jimmy V Women's Classic Presented by Corona (Hartford/Storrs, Conn.); NIT Season Tip-Off (Brooklyn, N.Y.); Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan) and State Farm Champions Classic (Chicago).
For more information, visit the official website, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube pages.
2015 HAWAIIAN AIRLINES DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC SCHEDULE
STAN SHERIFF CENTER – HONOLULU, HAWAII
Tuesday, Dec. 22
Auburn vs. New Mexico (ESPUNU), 11:30 a.m. PT (9:30 a.m. HT)
BYU vs. Harvard (ESPNU), 1:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. HT)
Oklahoma vs. Washington State, 8 p.m. PT (6 p.m. HT)
Northern Iowa vs. Hawaii, 10 p.m. PT (8 p.m. HT)
Wednesday, Dec. 23
Consolation #1 (ESPNU), 10:30 a.m. PT (8:30 a.m. HT)
Semifinal #1 (ESPN), 1:30 p.m. PT (11:30 a.m. HT)
Semifinal #2 (ESPN2), 6 p.m. PT (4 p.m. HT)
Consolation #2 (ESPNU), 8:30 p.m. PT (6:30 p.m. HT)
Friday, Dec. 25
Seventh-place Game (ESPNU or ESPN3), 10 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. PT (8 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. HT)
Fifth-place Game (ESPNU or ESPN3), 10 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. PT (8 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. HT)
Third-place Game (ESPN2), 3:30 p.m. PT (1:30 p.m. HT)
Championship Game (ESPN2), 5:30 p.m. PT (3:30 p.m. HT)