NEW YORK – The Hampton University men's basketball team will head to the Big Apple this weekend for the 2009 Big Apple Classic, in which the Pirates will face rival Howard on Saturday at the historic Madison Square Garden at 6 p.m.

Saturday's game will be in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) opener for both teams.

Hampton leads the series with Howard, going 24-4 against the Bison since 1995 – including 12 of the last 13 meetings and both of last year's contests. The Pirates beat Howard 45-39 in the 2008 Big Apple Classic before taking a 54-48 win over the Bison in the 2008-09 regular-season finale. Howard won the first meeting in 1996 by an 87-83 final, but the Pirates went on to win the next 10 meetings.

The Pirates (2-6) had their two-game winning streak snapped in Wednesday night's 74-55 loss at South Florida, while the Bison have lost their first eight games to open the season – including Tuesday's 59-53 loss at American.

The Bison went 8-23 last season, finishing tied for eighth in the MEAC, along with Florida A&M and Delaware State, with a 6-10 record and falling 71-58 in the first round of the MEAC Championships to Florida A&M. The Bison were picked to finish 10th in the MEAC this season, and senior center Paul Kirkpatrick, who averaged 7.8 points and 4.9 rebounds a game, was named to the Preseason All-MEAC Second Team.

Calvin Thompson leads Howard (0-8) in scoring this season as the only Bison player in double figures for the season, pouring in 13.4 points a game. He's led the team in scoring six times in eight games so far this season, including a season-high 28 against Niagara. Mike Phillips is leading the team with 6.3 rebounds per game, pulling down a season-high 15 boards against Niagara.

Live stats for the Big Apple Classic will be available through the Hampton University athletics website; just visit www.hamptonpirates.com, click on the men's basketball page and navigate to the “Live Stats” link.

The Big Apple Classic will kick off on Dec. 4 with the Big Apple Classic Kick-Off Party, then continue on Dec. 5 with the HBCU College Fair, followed at 4 p.m. by a game between Virginia State and Virginia Union. There will also be a drumline competition between Cheyney, Howard, Lincoln (Pa.) and Virginia State, and a halftime performance by Ryan Leslie.

A portion of all proceeds from the Big Apple Classic will go to the American Cancer Society. To purchase tickets, call the Hampton University Ticket Office at (757) 728-6828.

For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.