Oct. 2, 2008

2008-09 Houston Men's Basketball Schedule in PDF Format

2008 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer Bracket in PDF Format

HOUSTON - The University of Houston men's basketball team will open its 2008-09 schedule at one of the nation's premier college tournaments.

The 16-team field for the 2008 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer was announced Thursday afternoon. The Cougars will compete at the Durham Regional, facing Georgia Southern at 3 p.m. (Central), Nov. 10, in their first round game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

If the Cougars win, they meet the winner of the Duke-Presbyterian game at 8 p.m. (Central), Nov. 11, in a game to be televised on ESPNU. If the Cougars lose, they face the loser of the Duke-Presbyterian game at 5 p.m. (Central), Nov. 11.

Duke, UCLA, Michigan and Southern Illinois will serve as the four regional hosts. The Regional rounds will be held Nov. 10-13 with each regional winner advancing to the Championship rounds on Nov. 20-21 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The winner of the Durham Regional will face the winner of the Carbondale Regional in the first semifinal of the Championship Rounds. The Ann Arbor Regional winner and Los Angeles Regional winner meet in the second semifinal.

A total of ten games will be televised on the ESPN family of networks from the 2K Sports Classic. ESPN2 will televise both Championship Round doubleheaders on November 20th and 21st. ESPNU will televise two games from each of the Durham, Ann Arbor and Los Angeles Regional Rounds.

Eight letterwinners return from last season's Cougar squad, which finished with a 24-10 record and advanced to the semifinals of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational. It was the program's third postseason appearance in the last four seasons.

Junior guard Kelvin Lewis leads the way after averaging 10.2 points per game, while senior guard DaShaun Williams and senior center Marcus Cousin each posed four rebounds per game to lead all returnees.

Sophomore guard Zamal Nixon finished third with 37 assists in 2007-08, while sophomore guard Brockeith Pane was named the Conference USA Player of the Week for Nov. 27, 2007 after posting back-to-back 20-point games against Texas Southern and Grambling State.

Head coach Tom Penders enters his fifth season with the Cougar program in 2008-09. With an 81-49 record at UH, Penders has recorded more wins in his first four years with the Cougars than any coach in program history.

In addition, Penders joined a handful of elite college coaches a year ago after collecting his 600th career win and competing in his 1,000th career game as a head coach.

2K Sports will be the title sponsor of the event for the fourth consecutive year. 2K Sports develops and publishes the popular and highly acclaimed 2K series of sports video games including the "NBA 2K" series - the best selling and best rated next-generation basketball videogame on the market. 2K Sports is known for delivering the most innovative and realistic sports simulation gaming experience to fans every year.

The Coaches vs. Cancer program, a collaboration between the American Cancer Society and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), exists to leverage the strength, community leadership and celebrity of the nation's basketball coaches, to raise awareness and reduce cancer risk through education programs while raising funds for the American Cancer Society's fight against cancer. Since 1996, the event has raised more than $4 million for the benefit of Coaches vs. Cancer.



The 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer is produced by The Gazelle Group in Princeton, N.J. The Gazelle Group is a sports marketing firm, specializing in event production and management, client representation, and sponsorship consulting. Gazelle produces numerous nationally-recognized events, such as the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic, the Legends Classic and the College Basketball Invitational (CBI).

For more information on the Gazelle Group, please visit gazellegroup.com .

Visit coachesvscancer.com for more information on the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.

----- REGIONAL ROUNDS -----
Durham Regional Rounds
Cameron Indoor Stadium - Durham, N.C.

Nov. 10
3 p.m. • Georgia Southern vs. Houston
8 p.m. • Presbyterian vs. Duke (ESPNU)

Nov. 11
5 p.m. • Regional Consolation
8 p.m. • Regional Championship (ESPNU)

Carbondale Regional Rounds
SIU Arena - Carbondale, Ill.

Nov. 11
5 p.m. • Arkansas-Monticello vs. UMass
7:30 p.m. • California, Pa. vs. Southern Illinois

Nov. 12
3:30 p.m. • Regional Consolation
7 p.m. • Regional Championship

Ann Arbor Regional Rounds
Crisler Arena - Ann Arbor, Mich.

Nov. 11
3 p.m. • IUPUI vs. Northeastern
6 p.m. • Michigan Tech vs. Michigan (ESPNU)

Nov. 12
4 p.m. • Regional Consolation
7 p.m. • Regional Championship (ESPNU)

Los Angeles Regional Rounds
Pauley Pavilion - Los Angeles

Nov. 12
6:15 p.m. • Weber St. vs. Miami (Ohio)
9 p.m. • Prairie View A&M vs. UCLA (ESPNU)

Nov. 13
7:15 p.m. • Regional Consolation
10 p.m. • Regional Championship (ESPNU)

----- CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS -----
Semi-Final Doubleheader
Madison Square Garden - New York

Nov. 20 - 6 p.m. (ESPN2)
Durham Winner vs. Carbondale Winner
Los Angeles Winner vs Ann Arbor Winner

Championship Doubleheader
Madison Square Garden - New York

Nov. 21 - 4 p.m. (ESPN2)
Consolation Game
Championship Game