San Juan Capistrano, CA – Austin Peay State University (APSU) men’s basketball announced the first piece of its 2023-24 nonconference schedule, as the program prepares for the 2023 SoCal Challenge, November 17th-22nd, at The Pavilion at JSerra in San Juan Capistrano, California.
“We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to compete in the 2023 SoCal Challenge,” said Austin Peay State University men’s basketball first-year head coach Corey Gipson. “This is a great opportunity for us to represent Austin Peay State University and the Atlantic Sun Conference against such a competitive field of coaches and teams.”
The Governors’ trip to the Golden State for the three-game tournament is the second in program history and the first since a 2011 game against California – who also joins APSU in the tournament – during the College Basketball Experience Tournament.
Austin Peay State University is one of eight teams playing in the third-annual SoCal Challenge which features two four-team divisions – the Surf Division and the Sand Division. The opening round of the tournament features four regional games at campus sites.
Joining Austin Peay State University in the Sand Division are Cal State Bakersfield, Sacramento State, and Tarleton State, while the Surf Division features Bradley, California, UTEP, and Tulane.
Matchups, television details, and game times will be announced at a later date.
2023 SoCal Challenge Tournament Field
Sand Division
Cal State Bakersfield (11-22, 6-14 Big West)
Cal State Bakersfield is led by Rod Barnes, who enters his 13th year with the program in 2023-24. After entering the 2023 Big West Men’s Basketball Tournament as the No. 8 seed, the Roadrunners fell to top-seeded UC Irvine in the quarterfinals.
CSUB returns its leading three-point shooter and second-leading scorer from last season in junior guard, Marcin McGee III, who averaged 8.7 points per game in 2022-23, while shooting 43.2 percent from beyond the arc.
Tarleton State (17-17, 9-9 WAC)
Led by fourth-year head coach Billy Gillispie, Tarleton State made its first NCAA Division I postseason appearance last season, advancing to the 2023 College Basketball Invitational before falling to Radford in the first round of the tournament.
Lue Williams highlights the Texans’ returning players, as the senior guard was second on the team in scoring (10.7 points per game), while averaging 43.6 percent and 41.2 percent from the field and three-point range, respectively.
Sacramento State (14-18, 7-11 Big Sky)
David Patrick enters his second year as the Hornets’ head coach after advancing to the Big Sky Conference Men’s Basketball quarterfinals during his first season at the helm.
Sacramento State returns its third-leading scorer from Patrick’s inaugural season in senior forward Akol Mawein. Mawein averaged 9.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 24.9 minutes per game while shooting 51.3 percent from the field.
Surf Division
UTEP (14-18, 7-13 Conference USA)
UTEP head coach Joe Golding enters his third year with the program after leading the Miners to back-to-back Conference USA Tournament appearances.
The Miners return their leading scorer and three-point shooter from last season’s team which fell to Western Kentucky in the first round of the CUSA Championship in senior guard Tae Hardy. Hardy averaged 12.8 points per game and made 47 shots from beyond the arc at a 32.4 percent clip.
Tulane (20-11, 12-6 American)
Rob Hunter enters his fifth season as head coach of the Green Waves after leading the program to their first 20-win season since 2012-13 a season ago.
Tulane returns their second-leading scorer and rebounder from last season in junior Jaylen Forbes who averaged 18.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while also leading the team with 58 steals.
Bradley (25-10, 16-4 Missouri Valley)
Bradley leads all teams in the 2023 SoCal Challenge with 25 wins last season. Eighth-year head coach Brian Wardle led the Braves to its first National Invitational Tournament. Their historic 2022-23 campaign came to an end in the tournament’s first round following a loss to Wisconsin.
Bradley returns their second-leading scorer and rebounder from last season in graduate student Malevy Leons who averaged 11.1 points and 6.0 rebounds, while also tallying a team-best 52 assists and blocks, and starting all 35 games in the Braves’ frontcourt.
California (3-29, 2-18 PAC 12)
Mark Madesen joins Gipson as the two first-year head coaches in this season’s SoCnal Challenge.
Madsen takes over a Golden Bears’ team that won just three games during the 2022-23 season; however, the team returns senior guard Devin Askey who averaged 15.5 points per game, which ranked ninth in the PAC 12.
SoCal Challenge History
Past Winners:
2022: High Point (Sand Division), UNLV (Surf Division)
2021: Utah Valley (Sand Division), Fresno State (Surf Division)
Follow the APSU Govs
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