TOWSON, Md. – The 2019-20 Towson University men's basketball season has arrived. The Tigers return 10 players from last season and have an exciting schedule this season.
To help fans get hyped, each Friday through Nov. 1, there will be five random facts about the Tigers, their schedule, players, program and more heading into their season.
This is the fifth of six installments. Enjoy. Last week's fab five featured the good news about Towson having the highest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
- Towson's game against Kent State on Monday, Nov. 11 is special. Kent State recently signed who is believed to be the first Division I student-athlete on the autism spectrum in Kalin Bennett. With Towson head coach Pat Skerry's dedicated commitment to raising autism awareness, this contest has added significance. From Kent State's website: "The game at Towson will be special as their head coach Pat Skerry started the Autism Awareness Program. Because of his involvement, and Kalin a member of our team, this will be a very meaningful game for us."
- The Tigers will have seven nationally-televised regular season appearances this year. Towson will play on the ESPN family of networks four times: Florida (ESPN2), Xavier (ESPNU/News), Buffalo or UConn (ESPNU/News) and its final game of the Charleston Classic against either Miami, Missouri State, Saint Joseph's or Florida (ESPN/2/U). Towson will play on CBS Sports Network three times: home against Drexel (Thursday, Jan. 9) and on the road against Delaware (Thursday, Feb. 6) and Northeastern (Sunday, March 1).
- The Tigers are happy to have redshirt freshman Nicolas Timberlake back. He started five of nine games last year and averaged 6.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in 20.1 minutes. Timberlake scored in double figures three times, including a career best 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting against Florida Atlantic. He had a career best five rebounds against Morgan State on Dec. 8 and in his collegiate debut against Virginia, he led Towson with a career best three steals.
- Towson will open the D.C. Holiday Hoops Classic against Liberty on Friday, Dec. 20. The tournament will be played at the new Entertainment & Sports Arena, home of the WNBA champion Washington Mystics and site of this year's CAA Tournament. The Flames are the preseason favorites in the Atlantic Sun Conference. This means Towson will play nine games against programs that won at least 20 games last season and four teams that participated in the 2019 NCAA Tournament (Florida, Vermont and Northeastern). That total could grow to five if the Tigers meet Buffalo in the Gildan Charleston Classic. Overall, Towson will meet eight teams that participated in the postseason (Xavier, Kent State, Cornell and Hofstra).
Towson begins its season against George Washington at SECU Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. It's the second half of a women's-men's doubleheader. The Towson women host Penn State at 4 p.m. This will be the first time since 2013 that the Tigers will begin a season at home.
