Long Beach, Loyola Marymount included in BracketBusters field
Long Beach State will play Creighton on Feb. 18 in Omaha in one of the marquee college basketball matchups in this year’s Sears BracketBusters series.
The annual two-day event features 13 games that will be nationally televised on ESPN’s various channels. Long Beach vs. Creighton will be the final game; it will be shown on ESPN2 with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. PST.
Long Beach leads the Big West Conference with a 9-0 record, is 16-6 overall and has won nine in a row and 12 of its last 13 games. Creighton, leader of the Missouri Valley Conference, has won 10 straight to improve to 20-2 and is ranked No. 13 by the Associated Press.
Loyola Marymount (13-9) plays host to Valparaiso (15-8) in a Bracketbuster game at 6 p.m. on Feb. 17 that will be broadcast on ESPNU.
The full schedule:
Feb. 17: Northern Iowa at Virginia Commonwealth, 4 p.m., ESPN2/3; Valparaiso at Loyola Marymount, 6 p.m., ESPNU.
Feb. 18: Drexel at Cleveland State, 8 a.m., ESPNU; Wichita State at Davidson, 9 a.m., ESPN2/3; Buffalo at South Dakota State, 1 p.m., ESPNU; Akron at Oral Roberts, 11 a.m., ESPN2/3; Drake at New Mexico State, noon, ESPNU; Nevada at Iona, 1 p.m., ESPN2/3; Old Dominion at Missouri State, 2 p.m., ESPNU; No. 18 St. Mary's at No. 10 Murray State, 3 p.m., ESPN2/3; North Carolina Asheville at Ohio, 4 p.m., ESPN3; Texas-Arlington at Weber State, 5 p.m., ESPN3; Long Beach State at No. 13 Creighton, 7 p.m., ESPN2.
ALSO:
California beats Stanford to stay perfect at home
UCLA spreads work around in victory over Colorado
USC routs Utah to earn first Pac-12 win of the season
--Mike Hiserman
Photo: Casper Ware, left, and Long Beach State are no strangers to big games this season having played North Carolina, Kansas, Louisville and Pittsburgh. Credit: Gerry Broome / Associated Press
