City of Basketball Love

Garrett Miley (@GWMiley)
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Saint Joseph’s announced its non-conference slate for the 2015-16 season and Phil Martelli’s team has a strong list of opponents for his young squad.

The Hawks finished 13-18 overall last season and went 7-11 in the Atlantic 10 regular season before St. Bonaventure ended the Hawks’ season in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Martelli’s team will open the season with a trio of home games at Hagan Arena.  Former SJU player and assistant Bruiser Flint’s Drexel team will open the Hawks’ season on Nov. 13. 

Two days later, on November 18, Saint Joseph’s will open play in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off by hosting Niagara and then Buffalo later in the week. After the opening games, play then moves to Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., where Saint Joseph’s will take on Florida on Nov. 21, and then meet either Old Dominion or Purdue on Nov. 22.

In December, Villanova visits Hagan Arena for the storied “Holy War” matchup. Coming off of a season where they earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Jay Wright has reloaded his team after losing a pair of starters by adding top recruit Jalen Brunson in the backcourt.

The Hawks go on the road for the first time (in a non-neutral court game) on Dec. 4 at Columbia before coming back home and taking on another Ivy League opponent in Princeton.

The Hawks go across town to take on Temple in a Big-5 matchup on Dec. 13 before coming home to take on Illinois State.

SJU will participate in the inaugural A-10/ACC Challenge, taking on Virginia Tech at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Dec. 22, which provided a real strength of schedule opportunity paired with the early season matchups against Florida, potentially Purdue, and Villanova.

The Hawks close out 2015 with a home game against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Dec. 29 and round out their non-conference schedule at The Palestra against Penn on Jan. 20.

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2015-16 Saint Joseph's Non-Conference Schedule
*Records from last season
Fri., Nov. 13 vs. Drexel (11-19)                      
Sun., Nov. 15 vs. Niagara (8-22) (Hall of Fame Tip-Off)
Wed., Nov. 18 vs. Buffalo (23-10) (Hall of Fame Tip-Off)
Sat., Nov. 21 vs. Florida (16-17) (Hall of Fame Tip-Off)
Sun., Nov. 22 vs. Old Dominion/Purdue (Hall of Fame Tip-Off)
December
Tue., Dec. 1 vs. Villanova (33-3)
Fri., Dec. 4 at Columbia (13-15)
Tue., Dec. 8  vs. Princeton (16-14)
Sun., Dec. 13 at Temple (26-11)
Sat., Dec. 19  vs. Illinois State (22-13)
Tue., Dec. 22 vs. Virginia Tech (11-22) (at Barclays Center)
Tue., Dec. 29 vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore (18-15)

Wed., Jan. 20 at Penn (9-19)