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BLACKSBURG, Va. – A beefed-up home slate, plus trips to Destin and the Barclays Center and the always tough Atlantic Coast Conference foes highlight the 2015-16 Virginia Tech men’s basketball schedule. The Hokies and the ACC announced the composite men’s basketball schedule on Wednesday.

“This will be a challenging schedule for our young basketball team,” head coach Buzz Williams said. “The outstanding field for the Emerald Coast Classic will be an early test. That, followed by the Big Ten/ACC Challenge match-up with Northwestern, should answer a lot of questions early in the season. Then we finish the non-conference slate with the home match-up with rival West Virginia and then on to competing in the ACC, which once again will be one of the strongest leagues in the country.”

The Hokies will play 18 home games this season. Highlighting the home non-conference schedule are a Big Ten/ACC Challenge game against Northwestern in Cassell Coliseum on at 7 p.m. on Dec. 1 and a home game in the rivalry series with West Virginia, on Dec. 30, tipping off at noon.

The Hokies will open the 2015-16 schedule on Saturday, Nov. 14 against Alabama State at 7 p.m. in Cassell Coliseum. The game will be the first of four consecutive home games. Jacksonville State will come to Cassell Coliseum on Nov. 18. Both the Alabama State and Jacksonville State games are part of the Emerald Coast Classic. Tech will host traditional rival VMI on Nov. 21.

Tech will travel to Destin, Florida to compete in the Emerald Coast Classic on Nov. 27-28. The Hokies will play Iowa State in the semifinal on Friday night and either UAB or Illinois on Saturday evening. Friday night’s game and Saturday night’s championship game will be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network.

After the Hokies return from Florida, Tech hosts Northwestern in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in Cassell Coliseum at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 1. Tech will then make the short trip to Radford, to take on the Highlanders on Dec. 9 in the Dedmon Center. The Hokies will return to the Barclays Center on Dec. 22 to take on St. Joseph’s in an ACC/Atlantic 10 doubleheader. Tech will end calendar 2015 with the West Virginia game. The Hokies will also have home games against North Carolina A&T (Nov. 24), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Dec. 5), Lamar (Dec. 13) and Grambling State (Dec. 19). The Lamar game will be the return of former Hokie standout George “Tic” Price, who is the head coach of the Cardinals.

The Hokies open the ACC regular season on Saturday, Jan. 2, as they host NC State in Cassell Coliseum. In addition to the Wolfpack, home opponents include North Carolina, Wake Forest, Clemson, Florida State, Pittsburg and Miami, along with the annual match-up with arch-rival Virginia on Monday, Jan. 4 in Cassell Coliseum. Also, Louisville will make its first appearance in Cassell Coliseum in 20 years, as the Cardinals come to Blacksburg on Jan. 27.

Road foes for the Hokies, in addition to Virginia on Feb. 9, are Miami, Wake Forest, Syracuse, defending national champion Duke, Georgia Tech, defending ACC champion Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Boston College.

The ACC Office will update dates and additional television coverage at a later date.

“As was proven from the first day of the non-conference schedule until the last second of last season, the ACC it the best conference in the country,” Williams said. “Every team must compete every minute of every game. Our young team will have to work hard and get better everyday to compete in this monster of a league.”

The Hokies will have at least 24 games televised and all 18 of the Hokies’ ACC games will be televised this season. All conference games carried on an ESPN network will also be available on WatchESPN. All conference games carried on the ACC Network or a regional sports network will also be available on ESPN3.

To purchase men’s basketball season tickets for the 2015-16 season, please visit hokietickets.com or call the ticket office at 540-231-6731 or 1-800-VATECH4.

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