Dec. 18, 2009

Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham University men's basketball team is gearing up for a showdown with the #8/9 Villanova University Wildcats on Saturday, December 19th, at 2:00 p.m. at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J.

Fordham students can pick up their tickets beginning at 9:00 AM in the McGinley Center Lobby. The buses will start transporting students to the Izod center at 11:00 AM. For a complete schedule for Fordham students, click here . The day includes a special contest where a Fordham student will be randomly selected to shoot half court shots for a $40,000 scholarship.

General public tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com or at the Izod Center box office.

The game will be televised live by the YES Network with Fordham grad Ryan Ruocco handling play-by-play duties and Jim Spanarkel on color. The contest can be seen nationally on DirecTV channel 631.

Fordham enters the game with a 2-6 record after a 73-56 loss at St. John's on Sunday afternoon. Villanova enters the game with a 9-1 record after a 75-65 loss at Temple on Sunday afternoon.

Saturday afternoon's game will be Fordham's 22nd appearance at the Izod Center (the arena was formerly known as the Brendan Byrne Arena and the Continental Airlines Arena) where the Rams are 11-10 all-time. The last time Fordham played in the Izod Center was on November 29, 1999 when the Rams upended Fairfield, 80-68.

As a member of the MAAC, Fordham played in eight MAAC Tournaments at the Izod Center, winning the 1983 title with wins over Saint Peter's (66-52) in the semifinals and Iona (54-53) in the finals. The Rams also have victories over some prominent teams in the Izod Center, defeating Texas on February 12, 1987 (60-48), Notre Dame on February 10, 1983 (75-69) and Syracuse on December 12, 1981 (79-78).

If you can't make it to the game you can follow the action on your computer via audio streaming or live stats. Just click on the links below.

Listen Live - www.wfuv.org Live

Live Stats - GameTracker