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It doesn’t get any easier for the Hawaii men’s basketball team in its signature tournament.
The 2015 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic bracket pairings will be announced Thursday by ESPN, which operates the event. UH is matched up with Northern Iowa in the first round of the eight-team bracket on Dec. 22, said DHC executive director Daryl Garvin.
That nightcap game at the Stan Sheriff Center will be at roughly 8 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU.
UH has typically faced one of the tougher teams in the Diamond Head first round since the event began in 2009, and this year could be no different. The Panthers of the Missouri Valley Conference went 31-4 in 2014-15 and won the MVC tournament before falling to Louisville in the NCAA Tournament round of 32. It was one of the finest seasons in program history.
UNI lost conference player of the year Seth Tuttle, but it never depended on any one player to score in bunches to win; the Panthers were fourth nationally in scoring defense at 54.6 points per game allowed.
Their coach, Ben Jacobson, just signed a 10-year extension, whereas UH’s Eran Ganot was just introduced for a three-year term.
“The Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic has provided some great games in the past and we’re looking forward to continuing that tradition,” said Garvin, who took over as DHC executive director with David Matlin’s move to UH athletic director.
UH will play either Oklahoma or Washington State on the second day of competition Dec. 23. The first-round games on the other side of the bracket are Auburn vs. New Mexico and BYU vs. Harvard.
UH has yet to release its full 2015-16 schedule.