UWA Basketball to Play at Alabama

LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The University of West Alabama men’s basketball team will open its 2012-13 road schedule with a trip to play the University of Alabama in the Tuscaloosa Regional of the 18th annual 2K Sports Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Classic.

The Tigers will visit the Crimson Tide on Nov. 11. Game time has yet to be determined. UWA’s other opponent in the 2K Sports Classic will be Bucknell in a game to be played at the Gallagher Center in Niagara Falls, N.Y. on Nov. 18.

“Playing in a tournament of this magnitude is huge when you are building a program and have to recruit nationally,” head coach Mike Newell said. “We have already seen the benefit in our recruiting from playing at Oregon State and Bucknell last year.

“This is win-win-win for our program, our fans and our players,” Newell said. “It goes without saying that something like this gives your program more visibility and our players are excited about playing against Division I competition. It’s great for our fans because of how big Alabama is in our state.”

Alabama has made 19 NCAA Tournament appearances, including last season. Bucknell returns four starters from a 25-10 team in 2011-12 that advanced to the second round of the NIT.

Joining UWA, Alabama and Bucknell in the 2K Sports Classic are Villanova, Purdue, Oregon State, Hofstra, Marshall, New Mexico State, Niagara, South Dakota State, Northern New Mexico and UDC.

UWA returns its top two scorers in senior guards Jared Woolfolk and Steven Samuels. Samuels led the Tigers in scoring and rebounding last season with 14.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Woolfolk added 11.8 points per game.