August 20, 2014

EASTON, Pa. - Head men's basketball coach Fran O'Hanlon announced the 2014-15 slate on Wednesday as Lafayette looks to compete for a Patriot League championship this winter. The campaign features non-conference matchups on the road at West Virginia and Kansas, as well as at least 14 games inside Kirby Sports Center.

The 20^th year of men's basketball under O'Hanlon begins with a formidable trip to Robert Morris on Nov. 14. The Colonials (22-14, 14-2 NEC) took down the Leopards in the second game of the year last season by a 90-81 margin, and head man Andrew Toole has ties to College Hill, coaching at Lafayette during the 2006-07 season.

The Maroon and White follow the trip to Pittsburgh by invading Morgantown, W.Va. to take on West Virginia (17-16, 9-9 Big 12) on Nov. 16. The Mountaineers are coached by the legendary Bob Huggins, who holds a 740-302 overall record in 32 seasons as a head coach. West Virginia begins its third year in the Big 12 conference and fell to Georgetown in the opening round of the NIT last season.

On Nov. 19, the Leopards open up Kirby Sports Center with their only home game of six meetings in the month of November, hosting Princeton (21-9, 8-6 Ivy League) at 7 p.m. Trips to Penn (8-20, 5-9 Ivy League), Yale (19-14, 9-5 Ivy League), and Fairleigh Dickinson (10-21, 6-10 NEC) round out the opening month on Nov. 22, 26, and 30. Three straight tilts at the friendly confines open December with the Leopards hosting Wagner (19-12, 12-4 NEC) on Dec. 6, Sacred Heart (5-26, 2-14 NEC) on Dec. 8, and Susquehanna (17-10, 8-6 Landmark) on Dec. 16.

Those three games will be vital tune-ups for arguably Lafayette's toughest challenge of the season on Dec. 20 when they travel to Lawrence, Kan. to take on Kansas. The Jayhawks finished the 2013-14 campaign at 25-10, and went 14-4 in Big 12 conference play. Kansas went 15-2 inside Allen Fieldhouse, but disappointingly fell to Stanford in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Kansas aims to replace NBA-bound Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid with top freshman Cliff Alexander and returning scorers Perry Ellis and Wayne Selden, Jr.

A meeting with NJIT (13-16 Independent) on Dec. 28 at home rounds out the non-conference slate for the Leopards, who open Patriot League play to end the year with a meeting at Army (15-16, 10-8 PL) on New Year's Eve at 3 p.m. The Black Knights handled Lafayette a year ago with a 25-point win in Easton and a tight three-point victory in West Point, N.Y.

Navy (9-21, 4-14 PL) opens the home league slate and 2015 on Jan. 3 at Kirby Sports Center at 2 p.m. before the Maroon and White head on the road for matchups at Bucknell (16-14, 11-7 PL) and Boston (24-11, 15-3 PL) on Jan. 7 and 10. Boston finished off Lafayette a year ago with a 91-54 victory in the second round of the Patriot League Tournament.

A pair of home games follow the short road trip as the Leopards faceoff against Loyola (11-19, 6-12 PL) on Jan. 14 and American (20-13, 13-5 PL) on Jan. 17. American took the Patriot League title last season over Boston, 55-36, and fell to Wisconsin in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, 75-35.

A trip to Holy Cross (20-14, 12-6 PL) on Jan. 21 precedes the 220^th meeting with archrival Lehigh (14-18, 7-11 PL), set for Jan. 24 inside Kirby Sports Center. The Leopards split with the Mountain Hawks a year ago, with each team winning on their home floor.

Back-to-back road games finish off January as the league schedule flips following the final game of the first half at Colgate (13-18, 6-12 PL) on Jan. 28. The Leopards travel to Navy on Jan. 31 and return home for matchups with Bucknell on Feb. 4 and Boston on Feb. 7.

Three of the next four are away from home as Loyola hosts the Maroon and White on Feb. 11 and Feb. 14 brings a trip to Washington, D.C. for a tilt with American. Holy Cross travels to Easton on Feb. 18 and the second matchup with Lehigh is set for Feb. 21. Home meetings with Colgate and Army round out the slate with the Patriot League Tournament set for March 3-8.

The tournament will feature all 10 Patriot League members and will be played entirely at home sites. First-round contests will feature the 10^th-seed at the seventh-seed, and the ninth-seed at the eighth-seed. The tournament will then move to the quarterfinals held at the top four seeds, followed by the semifinals and championship at the site of the higher seeds. The bracket will not re-seed.

Check back to GoLeopards.com for all men's basketball news and season ticket information for the 2014-15 Lafayette men's basketball campaign.

2014-15 Lafayette Men's Basketball Schedule