US collegiate clash coming to Shanghai

While still basking in the afterglow of last week's NBA China Games featuring the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves, Chinese hoops fans can look forward to the clash of two heavyweight US collegiate squads on Nov 11 at Shanghai's Baoshan Sports Center. Tickets for the Pac-12 China Game between the UCLA Bruins and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are now on sale through Damai.cn in China and the US.

This marks the third straight year the Pac-12 is opening its men's basketball season in China. In 2015 the conference became the first US circuit, collegiate or pro, to host a regular-season game here when Washington defeated Texas, followed by Stanford's victory over Harvard last year.

The Nov 11 game will cap a week of activities in Shanghai involving delegations from the prestigious US universities, including an educational symposium and a community service event.

UCLA is No 12 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), and Georgia Tech is a top-10 global engineering institution, according to US News & World Report rankings.

Last season the Bruins advanced to the final 16 of the NCAA national championship tournament while the Yellow Jackets reached the championship game of the National Invitation Tournament.

UCLA, winner of a record 11 national championships, is coming off a resurgent 2016-17 season during which the Bruins compiled a 31-5 overall record en route to finishing No 8 in the final Associated Press top-25 poll.

Head coach Steve Alford has seven players returning from that squad, including top scorers Aaron Holiday and Thomas Welsh, while adding McDonald's All-Americans Jaylen Hands and Kris Wilkes.

Georgia Tech, which counts former NBA All-Star guard Stephon Marbury as an alumnus, has been revitalized under head coach Josh Pastner, who led the Yellow Jackets to a 21-16 overall record in his first season.

The Atlanta-based school has made 16 NCAA Tournament appearances in total, including in 1996 when Marbury helped the Yellow Jackets to an Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship.

The Pac-12 China Game will be televised live on ESPN in the United States and streamed live on Youku Sports.

Alibaba Group, the world's largest online and mobile commerce company, will once again serve as the game's premier sponsor after recently extending its deal through the 2020 Pac-12 China Game.

Alibaba will distribute the game live via its mobile and digital platforms and Ali-Sports Group will support the game in the areas of sponsorship, ticketing, advertising and marketing.