EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Basketball announced that it will play in the Duke Blue Devil Challenge, a four-team, three-game round-robin tournament organized by the Gazelle Group, in November. USI is slated to play at LaSalle University November 17; Bucknell University November 20; and Duke University November 24.
Duke will host three games at Cameron Indoor Stadium (Bucknell on November 17; La Salle on November 21; and USI on November 24), while LaSalle will host a pair of contests (Bucknell on November 14; USI on November 17). Game times are to be announced.
USI was 16-17 in their first season as a Division I program, earning a postseason bid to the College Basketball Invitational and the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. USI Head Coach Stan Gouard hopes to build momentum as he returns for his fourth year at the helm of the Screaming Eagles.
“We are excited about the opportunity to play at such a historic venue,” said Gouard. “For years Duke has been the blue blood of college basketball with its rich tradition. Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) has left that program in a great place and Jon Scheyer has done a spectacular job of picking up where Coach K left off.
“Playing at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and in front the Cameron Crazies, will be a moment in time that our student athletes will never forget,” continue Gouard. “As we enter into our second season of the Division I era, it is important to compete against teams that are going to help our program and our University grow on a national level and playing at Duke does that.”
Duke is coming off a 27-9 season last year, winning the ACC Tournament and earning the fifth seed in the NCAA East Regional. LaSalle reached the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament in 2023 after posting a 15-19 mark, while Bucknell was 12-20 last season and earned a trip to the Patriot League Tournament.
The full schedule for challenge is:
November 14:Â Bucknell at La Salle
November 17:Â USI at La Salle; Bucknell at Duke
November 20:Â USI at Bucknell
November 21:Â La Salle at Duke
November 24:Â USI at Duke
Great opportunity for USI. This will give them national exposure and likely help with recruiting later. For sure, Duke is expected to easily win all their games in this Challenge, but they have noticed USI and that’s good.
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