ESPN today announced the brackets for the Wooden Legacy exempt tournament. Creighton draws Arizona State in the first game of the event, which takes place over Thanksgiving weekend in Anaheim.
Bluejays, Sun Devils Meet for Second Straight Season
The Bluejays and Sun Devils will meet in the nightcap in the first day of action, with a 10:00 p.m. CT match-up on Thanksgiving night, November 28. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Creighton will face ASU almost a year to the date of the programs’ last meeting, in the championship game of the 2012 Las Vegas Invitational. Last season, the Bluejays jumped out to an early lead but a scoring battle between Doug McDermott (29 points) and Jahii Carson (30 points) made the game go down to the wire, with the Jays walking away with the Las Vegas Invitational championship 87-73.
Creighton’s Grant Gibbs will get another shot to play against Arizona State in 2013 (Mike Spomer/WBR)
Carson returns this season to lead the Sun Devils, forgoing the one-and-done mantra that a lot of great players have followed in recent seasons. He will lead an experienced team that will make for a tough opening round opponent for the Bluejays.
The headliner on the other side of the bracket is Creighton’s new Big East brethren Marquette. Arizona State will have played Marquette already the week before the Wooden Legacy and Creighton will meet Marquette at least twice during the conference season.
Jays Will Face San Diego State or College of Charleston After ASU
The Bluejays’ other two games will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks. Depending on wins and losses, the Bluejays will take on either San Diego State or College of Charleston the following day, November 29.
The opening two rounds will be played at Titan Gym on the campus of Cal State Fullerton. The final day of play will be on December 1 at the Honda Center, where the Bluejays will take on one of these teams: Marquette, Miami, George Washington, or CSF.
Adding Interesting Games to an Already Interesting Non-Con Schedule
In addition to these dates in Anaheim, you can mark a few other dates on your calendar. You may want to stick around California after the Wooden Legacy; the Bluejays visit Long Beach State on December 3 to return a BracketBuster game from 2012.
Additionally, the Cal Bears will visit the CenturyLink Center on December 22 to finish a home-and-home series started last season. The Bluejays won the game in Berkeley last season 74-64.
Also slated for the Bluejays non-conference schedule for next season are home games against UMKC, Nebraska, Tulsa, Alcorn State, as well as a trip to Philadelphia to take on St. Joseph’s. Check our Library section for more updates on the upcoming Bluejay schedule, the other teams in the Big East and TV schedules.