Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots Men's basketball team has released their schedule for the 2022-23 season. Head coach Matt Daniel enters in his second season at the lead of the Patriots and looks to lead the team to their ninth straight NAIA tournament.
 
The season is set to begin at home on October 27^th when they take on the Buffaloes of Milligan College. The Pats got their 21-22 season off on the right note against Milligan with a 102-83 win, and look to open this year with the same result. UC will host two more home games against Bryan College and Johnson University before the Cumberlands Classic on Nov 11. This marks the sixth straight season hosting the Cumberlands Classic. The Patriots will take on Alice Lloyd College on the 11^th and West Virginia University Institute of Technology, winners of the River-States Conference, on Saturday the 12^th.
 
After the Classic, UC will jump straight into Mid-South Conference play where they will take on last year's regular season champs Thomas More on the 17^th of November. Cumberlands found great success against the Saints last year, giving them two of their five losses on the year.
 
"Our league features 22 games of the best competition in the country. There are no nights off, every matchup is notable," said Daniel about the Mid-South Conference.  

Two days after this battle with the number five team in the nation the Patriots will take on a new addition to the MSC, Wilberforce. The reigning Mid-South tourney champs Georgetown will host UC on the 22nd before the Grenadiers of IU Southeast come to the Burg to round out the month of November with a non-conference matchup.

December will be a busy month for Cumberlands with six games in 17 days. They will travel to Pikeville on the first of the month before playing Shawnee State at home on the 3^rd. UC will then face the Tigers of Campbellsville, who they split the regular season series with a season ago, before playing their final home game before the New Year against Lindsey Wilson Dec. 10^th. A trip south will see the 2022 schedule come to an end with games against UT Southern and Cumberland University on the 15^th and 17^th.
 
2023 will begin with two Patriot home games against Freed-Hardeman and Bethel, rounding out the first half of conference play. They will then head north to Portsmouth, OH for their second game against Shawnee State on the season. Pikeville will come to Randy Vernon Court on the 14^th of January before going to Wilberforce on the 19^th. January will end with matchups against Thomas More, Bethel, and Freed-Hardeman. UC went 5-1 against this trio of MSC teams, and looks for an even better result down the stretch this year.
 
A three-game home stretch will start UC's February as they host Georgetown (Feb. 4), Cumberland (Feb. 9), and UT Southern (Feb. 11). The final away trip of the regular season is set for February 16^th against the Blue Raiders before the regular season finale against Campbellsville University in Williamsburg on the 18^th.
 
The MSC Tournament will begin on February 20^th with the opening round games hosted at the higher seeds home court. The top-four seeds earn a bye and will make the trip to Bowling Green, KY later that week along with the winners from the opening round. The NAIA tournament will follow as the Patriots look to make their ninth straight appearance.
 
For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics. Please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter- @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, TikTok- @ucpatriots, Youtube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.