SHANGHAI – The Pac-12 continues its “Pac-12 Global” initiative with the fourth annual Pac-12 China Game, presented by Alibaba Group, which is set to take place on Saturday, Nov. 10 (Friday, Nov. 9 at 8 p.m. PT / 11 p.m. ET).  This year’s event features the University of California, Berkeley’s men’s basketball team taking on Yale University in Shanghai at Baoshan Sports Center.  To promote the signature event, student-athletes and coaches from both universities, along with officials from the Pac-12, Alibaba and the Federation of University Sports of China (FUSC), were available to the media on Thursday, Nov. 8 at the Shanghai Disney Resort. 

 

“The Pac-12 is proud to continue our partnership with Alibaba and FUSC and to provide fans in China with the best of collegiate men’s basketball,” said Pac-12 Deputy Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich. “The Pac-12 China Game delivers a full week of incredible cultural and educational experiences to our student-athletes and is an opportunity to showcase the excitement of college sport to Chinese audiences.”

 

“Having worked closely with the Pac-12 for over four years, we are happy to see the positive changes for our Chinese youth brought up about by this relationship,” said David Liu, vice president of Alibaba Sports Group (AliSports). “This partnership is important for us not just because the Pac-12 is a top collegiate athletic conference, but also the Pac-12’s spirit of competing for excellence is something we hope to bring to all Chinese collegiate sports.  The Pac-12 China Game and all associated events, including the China-U.S. University Sports & Education Summit, have strengthened ties between Chinese and U.S. collegiate athletic exchanges and propelled Chinese collegiate athletics.”

 

The 2018 Pac-12 China Game begins at 12 p.m. local Shanghai time on Saturday, Nov. 10 (8 p.m. PT / 11 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 9).  Fans can purchase tickets through Damai.cn or Pac-12.com/tickets:

 

Live coverage of the game will be available to Chinese audiences via Youku Tudou as well as in the U.S. on ESPNU.  Domestic coverage in the U.S. on ESPNU begins Friday, Nov. 9 at 8 p.m. PT / 11 p.m. ET (with immediate re-air on ESPN2 at 10:15 p.m. PT). In addition, for countries outside of the U.S. and China, live coverage of the game will be available via the Pac-12 Conference's Facebook page at Facebook.com/Pac12Conference. 

“FUSC is extremely excited to welcome Cal, Yale and the Pac-12 back to China for the fourth annual Pac-12 China Game,” said Xue Yanqing, president of FUSC.  “We look forward to continuing our work with the Pac-12 and Alibaba to further promote cultural exchanges for basketball fans between both countries.”

 

With opening week for Pac-12 men’s basketball underway, this year’s event marks the fourth time a Pac-12 program has opened its regular season in China.  Beginning with the inaugural event in 2015 when Washington defeated Texas, the Pac-12 became, and still remains, the first U.S. sports league, collegiate or professional, to host a regular-season contest in China.  Past trips have also included Stanford defeating Harvard in 2016 and UCLA defeating Georgia Tech last season.

 

Also taking place tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 9 will be the fourth annual China-U.S. University Sports & Education Summit.  Groups from both Cal and Yale, as well as the Pac-12, will gather at Suzhou High Tech Zone’s Culture & Sports Center.  Panels throughout the three-hour event, beginning at 9:30 a.m. local time, will include:

 

Having extended its sponsorship through the 2020 Pac-12 China Game, Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA), the world’s largest online and mobile commerce company, continues to serve as the game’s presenting sponsor. As announced last season, Alibaba will continue to also distribute more than 175 Pac-12 sporting events annually, including the Pac-12 China Game via digital and mobile distribution platforms. AliSports Group will support the game in the areas of sponsorship, ticketing, advertising and marketing. 

 

Longtime Pac-12 partner FUSC, which operates under China's Ministry of Education, is the co-host of the game while AEG Asia will operate the event at Baoshan Sports Center.

For the third straight year, the Pac-12 has committed to donate $10,000 to the Yao Foundation. The Pac-12 and Yao Foundation have a strong mutual interest in supporting youth development, education, health and welfare. The Pac-12 China Game is more than just a basketball game - it is a platform to foster goodwill between the United States and China and to inspire the youth of China to pursue their dreams in both academics and athletics.

 

As in previous years, the 2018 Pac-12 China Game will bring delegations from two prestigious U.S. universities to China.  The University of California, Berkeley and Yale University are both among the top 15 universities in the 2019 Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings.

 

Entering his second season as head coach of California, Wyking Jones returns a sophomore wing trio of Justice Suieng, Darius McNeill and Juhwan Harris-Dyson along with transfer Paris Austin as the Golden Bears look to improve upon last season.  The young group will also include a new group of California recruits with highly regarded wings Matt Bradley and Jacobi Gordon, as well as 7-3 forward Connor Vanover.

 

Expected to be in the thick of the race for the Ivy League title this season, Yale was selected third in the league’s annual preseason poll.  Having advanced to the Ivy League Tournament for the second straight year last season, head coach James Jones’ group welcomes back most of its offensive production, including unanimous first team All-Ivy selection Miye Oni and second team All-Ivy honoree Trey Phills. 

 

About Pac-12 Global 
Founded in 2011, Pac-12 Global is an unprecedented effort to harness the passion and spirit of collegiate athletics to showcase the Pac-12 Conference and its member institutions around the world, while giving student-athletes access to transformative life experiences and impactful cultural exchanges. The initiative uses athletics to support the ambitious international strategies that many Pac-12 universities have embarked upon to extend their reach around the world. For more information on the initiative and its history, go to Pac-12.com/global.

 

The Conference has a tradition as the “Conference of Champions,” leading the nation in NCAA Championships in 52 of the last 58 years, with 513 NCAA team titles overall. The Conference comprises 12 leading U.S. universities - the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Colorado, the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Stanford University, the University of Southern California, the University of Utah, the University of Washington and Washington State University. For more information on the Conference’s programs, member institutions, and Commissioner Larry Scott, go to Pac-12.com/conference.