Nov. 4, 2017
Shanghai, China – The Georgia Tech men’s basketball team will get the experience of a lifetime for the next eight days when the Yellow Jackets visit China and open their 2017-18 season against UCLA in the 2017 Pac-12 China Game presented by the Alibaba Group. Longtime Pac-12 partner Federation of University Sports of China (FUSC), which operates under China’s Ministry of Education, serves as the co-host for the game.
The 2017 Pac-12 China Game between UCLA and Georgia Tech will tip off the 2017-18 basketball season and be broadcast live on ESPN at 11:30 p.m. Friday night, Nov. 10. The game is part of Pac-12 Global, an unprecedented effort to promote goodwill for the Conference and its member institutions through sport, and to provide student-athletes with a transformative cultural exchange experience.
“We’re thrilled and excited to participate in this event,” said Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner. “This is an incredible opportunity for our players and coaches to experience something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives from a cultural and educational standpoint. We’re also proud to represent the Institute and its excellent reputation in academics and athletics on this stage.”
The UCLA game in China will be the second time in program history that Georgia Tech will travel to East Asia for a regular-season men’s basketball game. The Yellow Jackets played Boston College and SMU in the 1986 Suntory Ball event in Tokyo, Japan, winning both games.
Other regular-season trips outside the 50 states for Tech in its basketball history include the 1997 Puerto Rico Shootout (Bayamon, P.R.), the 2007 Paradise Jam (St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands) and the 2010 Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan, P.R.). Tech also played four exhibition games in Cuba during the 1925-26 season.
Tech and UCLA will be meeting for the fifth time. The Bruins have won three of the previous four contests, most recently in the championship game of the 2006 Maui Invitational.
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TOUR HIGHLIGHTS
● The Yellow Jackets was in the air for 17 hours one way to Shanghai, flying 7,671 miles while connecting through Detroit.
● Shanghai is 13 hours ahead of the United States Eastern standard time zone. When Tech and UCLA meet at 12:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, Nov. 11, it will be 11:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 10, in Atlanta.
● Tech will land in Shanghai at 7:20 p.m. local time Saturday, Nov. 4, and immediately bus three hours to Hangzhou, where it will spend the first three days of this excursion. The entire journey from campus departure to arrival in Hangzhou took more than 24 hours.
● While in Hangzhou, Tech will spend most of Monday, Nov. 6, at the campus of Alibaba, China’s leading e-commerce company, participating in an educational program but also engaging in a lifting session there before a practice at Hangzhou International School.
● Tech will practice again Tuesday morning, Nov. 7, before boarding a bullet train to Shanghai, where the Jackets will spend the rest of the trip.
● Wednesday, Nov. 8, includes a practice in the morning and a visit to Shanghai Disney in the afternoon.
● The Jackets will practice again the morning of Thursday, Nov. 9, participate in the Yao Foundation Kids and Baoshan District Clinic in the afternoon, and take a cruise on the Huangpu River in the evening.
● Tech will have its final practice the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 10, then open its regular season against the Bruins on Saturday, Nov. 11 (Friday night, Nov. 10 in Atlanta).
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is in its second year under head coach Josh Pastner. Tech has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won three ACC Championships (1985, 1990, 1993), played in the NCAA Tournament 16 times and played in two Final Fours (1990, 2004). Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball on social media by liking their Facebook Page, or following on Twitter (@GTMBB) and Instagram.
For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com. Tickets for men’s basketball can be purchased here.
