MONTREAL – Two of the most prestigious universities and oldest men's basketball programs in North America will meet in Montreal for the first time when Harvard opens a week-long cross-border tour against the McGill Redbirds on Monday, Aug. 21 in a 7 p.m. tip-off at Love Competition Hall, located at 475 Pine Avenue West.
Online tickets will be available for purchase as of Aug. 7.
It will mark the first preseason contest scheduled for McGill, the alma mater of basketball inventor
James Naismith, which began playing hoops in 1901. Harvard, which started its varsity program in 1900, is slated to play four games over seven days in Canada. After confronting McGill, the Crimson will head to the nation's capital to play the Ottawa Gee-Gees (Aug. 22) and Carleton Ravens (Aug. 23), before closing out their tour in Toronto against the U of T Varsity Blues (Aug. 25).
Harvard, which first met McGill in an 1874 rugby-football game, has only played on the Montreal-based campus previously in rugby, football and hockey.
This tour will mark the Harvard basketball program's first visit to Canada since the 2019 James Naismith Classic tournament in Toronto. The Crimson are 2-0 lifetime against McGill, posting both meetings on the Harvard campus, where they won 66-63 (Nov. 7, 2015) and 70-45 (Jan. 10, 2017).
Harvard, usually ranked among the top academic institutions in the U.S., registered a 14-14 overall basketball record last season, including a 5-9 regular season mark in the Ivy League. The Crimson have made five post-season appearances in the NCAA Tournament, where they have registered a 2-6 record.
McGill, perennially ranked among the top academic universities in Canada, posted a 9-18 record overall in men's hoops last year, including a 6-10 mark in the RSEQ conference. The Redbirds have qualified a dozen times for the U SPORTS Final Eight national championship tourney, where they own a 5-17 lifetime record.
2023-24 McGILL REDBIRDS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012
WEBSITE:
www.mcgillathletics.ca
E-MAIL:
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
