Purdue will take on North Carolina State in a men’s Final Four rematch on Thanksgiving Day, part of the second annual Rady Children’s Invitational at UCSD’s LionTree Arena.
The Boilermakers and Wolfpack will tip off Nov. 28 at noon in a game that will air on Fox Sports 1. BYU will take on Ole Miss at 2:30 p.m, also on FS1.
The winners will play each other the following day at 3 p.m. for the holiday tournament championship; the third-place game is at 12:30 p.m. Both games will air on Fox.
Oklahoma beat USC to win the inaugural Rady Children’s Invitational, an event that also included Seton Hall and Iowa. All-session es to this year’s tournament start at $80; $5 from every ticket sold will benefit Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego.
“Sports events have been an important part of the tourism industry in San Diego,” said Jackie Reed, 2024 president of Sports San Diego, the group that puts on the event. “Together with Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, Fox Sports, UC San Diego Athletics, and Global Sports & Events – we’re confident this early season college basketball tournament is already one of the best in the country. San Diego is the perfect place to do this, and we cannot wait to tip off for our second year.”
Top-seeded Purdue met No. 11 NC State on April 6 in a Final Four game played in Glendale, Ariz. Star center Zach Edey scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Boilermakers won 63-50 to advance to the national championship game, which they lost to UConn. NC State was led by DJ Horne, who scored 20 points.
BYU finished 23-11 last season, then lost coach Mark Pope to Kentucky. Ole Miss went 23-12 in the first season under coach Chris Beard, the former boss at Texas Tech and Texas.
