PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Hampton University men's basketball team will look to get back into the win column, as the Pirates take on Rutgers University at the Rutgers Athletic Center on Sunday at 12 p.m.

This will be Hampton's second game of the 2011 Triple Crown Cancun Challenge.

The Pirates (1-1), in their third season under head coach Edward Joyner Jr., lost their road opener 72-51 at Richmond on Thursday night. Senior guard Mike Tuitt (Bronx, N.Y.) led the Pirates with 11 points, junior guard Jasper Williams (Washington, D.C.) added 10 points.

Sophomore center David Bruce (Linden, N.J.) pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.

Rutgers (2-1) won its first game in the Cancun Challenge on Thursday, beating Sacred Heart 91-75 at the Rutgers Athletic Center. Freshman guard Jerome Seagears led the way with 17 points, while Eli Carter added 13 points and Myles Mack added 10 points.

The Cancun Challenge, owned by Fort Collins, Colo.-based Triple Crown Sports, Inc., is in its fourth year and features two separate four-team brackets. The Riviera Division includes Illinois, Illinois State, Richmond and Rutgers, while Hampton, Lipscomb, Sacred Heart and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville make up the Mayan Division.

All teams will play two games before traveling to Cancun, Mexico. Hampton's 72-51 loss at Richmond on Thursday was the Pirates' first in the event, before the Pirates head to Piscataway, N.J. on Sunday to take on Rutgers. Hampton will then face Sacred Heart on Wednesday, Nov. 23, and either Lipscomb or SIU-Edwardsville on Thursday, Nov. 24 in Cancun.

The Pirates went 8-5 on the road last season, winning three of their last four regular-season road games in 2010-11 – including the last two at Delaware State (71-64) and at Howard (83-72). The Pirates dropped their 2011-12 road opener on Thursday, falling 72-51 at Richmond. For his career as a head coach, Ed Joyner is 14-15 on the road.

The Scarlet Knights finished 15-17 last season, finishing 13th in the Big East with a 5-13 conference record. Rutgers lost six of their last eight games to close out the 2010-11 campaign, including a 65-63 loss to St. John's in the second round of the Big East Tournament.

Rutgers was picked to finish 11th in the Big East this season, returning two starters and seven letterwinners from last season's squad – while also breaking in seven newcomers. Dane Miller leads three Rutgers players in double figures so far, averaging 11.0 points a night, while Carter is pouring in 10.7 points per contest and Gilvydas Biruta is averaging 10.0 points a game to go with a team-high 6.7 rebounds a night.

Rutgers is averaging 70.0 points a game on offense, while giving up 67.7 points per contest.

Sunday's game will be the first-ever meeting between Hampton and Rutgers.

Hampton is 0-3 all-time against teams currently competing in the Big East conference. The Pirates are 0-1 all-time against Connecticut, 0-1 against Georgetown and 0-1 against Marquette. The Pirates' last game against a Big East school came in the 2001-02 season, when Hampton fell 78-67 to Connecticut in the first round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament.

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.