TEMPE, Ariz. (Sept. 4, 2024) – The four participating teams in the 2024 Arizona Tip-Off Desert Division have been announced as Bowling Green, New Mexico State, Pepperdine and Weber State will take part in the second-annual early season event. The second-annual event, hosted in partnership between Intersport and the Arizona Sports & Entertainment Commission, will take place Nov. 29-30 at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz.

Semifinal contests are set for Nov. 29, while third-place and championship contests will be held on Nov. 30. The four Desert Division games will overlap with Cactus Division contests, which are scheduled for Nov. 28-29 and will feature Butler, Mississippi State, Northwestern and UNLV.

The complete schedule of games for the Arizona Tip-Off is as follows,

Travel packages for fans looking to join their favorite team in the Valley of the Sun over Thanksgiving Weekend are now available at www.arizonatipoff.com/travel. Packages include tickets to each Cactus Division game of the Tournament and hotel accommodations at one of the Tip-Off’s host resorts – the Scottsdale Plaza Resort & Villas and Gila River Resorts & Casino – Wild Horse Pass. Fans can also register to receive regular event updates and additional tournament and ticket news by visiting www.arizonatipoff.com/tickets. The only way to guarantee tickets to the event is by purchasing an official fan travel package. Ticket packages, based on availability, will go on sale on Sept. 20.

This will be the first all-time meeting between Weber State and Bowling Green, but Weber State own series leads over both New Mexico State (4-2) and Pepperdine (5-2). Pepperdine owns a 7-4 all-time mark against New Mexico State, but the Aggies won the two most recent meetings during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. Bowling Green owns a 2-0 mark against Pepperdine, but the most recent meeting was in 1950.

To receive the latest email alerts regarding tournament news, ticket information and more, visit our website at www.arizonatipoff.com and follow Intersport Basketball on Twitter (X) and Instagram at @IntersportHoops.

About the Teams of the Arizona Tip-Off Desert Division
Bowling Green
• Head coach Todd Simon enters his second season with the program, having led the Falcons to its first 20-win season since 2019-20 last year
• Simon, who owns a 147-128 overall record as a head coach, has posted four consecutive 20-win seasons dating back to his tenure as the head coach at Southern Utah
• Trey Thomas, who started 26 of 28 games last year, was the third-leading scorer last season for Bowling Green, which will welcome six transfers to this year’s program

New Mexico State
• Jason Hooten enters his second season with the program, after previously spending 13 years with Sam Houston, where he won 261 games in 12 winning seasons and earned two conference championships
• In the last 20 years, the Aggies have appeared in 10 NCAA Tournaments and have 13 seasons with 20 or more wins
• New Mexico State welcomes back two returning starters in Chrisitan Cook and Robert Carpenter, who were the team’s first and third-leading scorers, respectively

Pepperdine
• Ed Schilling enters his first season at Pepperdine, who most recently was at Grand Canyon, which participated in the 2023 Arizona Tip-Off
• Schilling held guide the Lopes to three NCAA Tournament appearances, and also served as an assistant coach with UMass, Memphis, UCLA and Indiana
• Schilling brings in nearly an entirely new roster, but Pepperdine does welcome back returning starter Boubacar Coulibaly, who started nine games last year, averaging 8.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, before suffering a season-ending injury

Weber State
• Third-year coach Eric Duft has guided Weber State to 38 wins over the last two seasons, finishing in the top four of the Big Sky in 2023 and 2024
• Duft has spent 18 seasons as a member of the Weber State coaching staff, the first 16 as an assistant to longtime coach Randy Rahe
• The Wildcats welcome back three returning starters from last year’s team: Blaise Threatt (10.8 points per game), Dyson Koehler (10.2) and Alex Tew (7.1), who was also named to the league’s All-Defensive Team last team