This fall marks the third year that the Pac-12, the prestigous league made up of 12 of the world's best universities, will open its men’s basketball season in China.
Tickets for the 2017 Pac-12 China Game, presented by Alibaba Group, will go on sale to the public on Oct 13. On Nov 11, the men's basketball teams from UCLA and Georgia Tech will showcase their skills to a Chinese audience at the Baoshan Sports Center in Shanghai.
The Pac-12 became the first United States sports league, collegiate or professional, to host a regular-season contest in China in 2015, and this year's Pac-12 China Game will help usher in the start of the 2017-18 U.S. college basketball season. The game will start at 12.30pm local Shanghai time on Saturday, Nov 11 and be televised live on ESPN in the United States and streamed live on Youku Sports. In addition to event sponsorship, Alibaba will distribute the game live via their mobile and digital distribution platforms.
Longtime Pac-12 partner Federation of University Sports of China (FUSC), which operates under China's Ministry of Education, will co-host the game, and AEG Asia will again operate the event.
The 2017 Pac-12 China Game will bring delegations from two prestigious U.S. universities to China for a week of events, including an educational symposium and a community service event.
For the first time, this year’s Pac-12 China Game will feature two men’s basketball teams coming off postseason appearances as UCLA advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and Georgia Tech reached the championship game of the National Invitation Tournament.
The UCLA men’s basketball team, winners of a record 11 NCAA national championships, experienced a resurgence in the 2016-17 season, during which they compiled a 31-5 overall record en route to finishing No. 8 in the final Associated Press top 25 poll.
Georgia Tech, the university attended by six-time Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) All-Star Stephon Marbury, has been revitalized under head coach Josh Pastner, who led the Yellow Jackets to a 21-16 overall record in his first season.
More than 7,000 fans have attended each of the previous Pac-12 China Games. The 2017 Pac-12 China Game will be played at Baoshan Sports Center, currently home to the Shanghai Baoshan Dahua Sharks of the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association, as well as the site of a number of CBA contests and last year’s Tencent Celebrity Basketball Game featuring Marbury and Tracy McGrady.
Nov 11, 12pm, RMB100-780 (tickets available from 10am on Oct13 through the ticketing hotline 400-610-3721, and online via Damai.cn). Baoshan Sports Center, see event listing.
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