July 11, 2012

DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois men’s basketball program will play in front of a national television audience on Tuesday, Nov. 13 as they take part in the 2012 ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon. The Huskies will travel to Valparaiso for a 7 a.m. CT tip-off broadcast on ESPN.

“We are excited and honored to be able to participate in the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon,” said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. “This is an excellent opportunity for our program to play on ESPN and receive national exposure. We look forward to being a part of the event and I know that our players are excited for the opportunity to play on ESPN.”

For the fifth consecutive season, ESPN will celebrate the opening of the college basketball season with the College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon. This year’s marathon will include 11 men’s games over 24 consecutive hours on ESPN – plus a schedule of matchups across ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 – beginning at midnight ET. The lineup for ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 is to be determined.

NIU is one of two schools in the Mid-American Conference that will play in the 2012 College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon as Kent State will host Temple at 11 a.m. CT. The Huskies are one of eight schools playing in the Marathon for the first time, along with Davidson, Detroit, Harvard, Houston Baptist, New Mexico, Valparaiso and Xavier.

NIU’s full 2012-13 schedule will be released at a later date.

2012 ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon Schedule (All times central)
Monday, Nov. 12
11 p.m. - West Virginia at Gonzaga

Tuesday, Nov. 13
1 a.m. - Davidson at New Mexico
3 a.m. - Houston Baptist at Hawaii
5 a.m. - Stony Brook at Rider
7 a.m. - Northern Illinois at Valparaiso
9 a.m. - Harvard at Massachusetts
11 a.m. - Temple at Kent State
1 p.m. - Detroit at St. John’s
3 p.m. - Butler at Xavier
5 p.m. - College GameDay covered by State Farm (live from the Georgia Dome – Atlanta, Ga.)
6 p.m. - Michigan State vs. Kansas (Champions Classic, Georgia Dome)
Approximately 30 min following MSU/KU - Duke vs. Kentucky (Champions Classic, Georgia Dome)