Return to Hawaii: Men's Hoops Team to Compete in Diamond Head Classic in December

Get ready to say 'Mele Kalikimaka,' Tigers.

The Princeton men's basketball team will be playing in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, an ESPN Event, Dec. 22-25, putting the Orange and Black on Oahu in back-to-back seasons.

Princeton took part in the Pearl Harbor Classic last December, playing two games in Bloch Arena on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

This time, it'll be a three-game event for the Tigers and its fellow seven teams in the field, including Akron, Davidson, Hawai'i, Miami (Fla.), Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico State and Southern California at Hawai'i's Stan Sheriff Center.

The bracket will be announced over the summer. Last year, 11 of the 12 games were on ESPN2 or ESPNU with every game also on ESPN3.

The first round will take place Dec. 22 with the second game on Dec. 23 before an off day Dec. 24. The final round of games is set for Dec. 25, giving Princeton its first Christmas Day game in program history three years after the Tigers played on Thanksgiving Day for the first time in program history at an other ESPN Event, the 2014 Wooden Legacy in California.

It'll be Princeton's first participation in the Diamond Head Classic, which began in 2009, but certainly not the Tigers' first trip to the islands. Princeton first played in Hawaii for the 1979 Rainbow Classic at the Neal Blaisdell Center in Honolulu before returning to the Rainbow Classic in 1998, this time at the Sheriff Center. In 2007, Princeton played in the Maui Invitational, and last December, the Tigers were back on Oahu for the Pearl Harbor Invitational.

The field includes five teams that were in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, with Princeton among those as well as Miami, Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico State and USC.

Princeton has faced six of the seven teams in the field at some point in its history:

• Akron:
All-time series: Akron leads 1-0
Last meeting: Dec. 30, 2012, Akron won 62-58 at Akron

• Davidson:
All-time series: Davidson leads 8-6
Last meeting: Jan. 29, 2006, Davidson won 65-50 at Davidson

• Hawai'i:
All-time series: Princeton leads 1-0
Last meeting: Dec. 7, 2016, Princeton won 75-62 at Bloch Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii

• Miami:
All-time series: Miami leads 2-1
Last meeting: Dec. 29, 2015, Miami won 76-64 at Miami

• Middle Tennessee:
Have not met

• New Mexico State:
All-time series: NMSU leads 1-0
Last meeting: Dec. 27, 1972, NMSU won 61-56 at The Palestra

• USC:
All-time series: USC leads 1-0
Last meeting: Dec. 28, 1972, USC won 70-52 at The Palestra

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