2022-23 Non-Conference Schedule | 2022-23 Non-Conference Series Records | 2021-22 Results

LORETTO, Pa. - Saint Francis University men's basketball head coach Rob Krimmel has announced his 2022-23 non-conference schedule. A trip to Hawaii highlights the schedule. The Red Flash will also play three games against Power 6 Conferences and six home games, including three contests during Thanksgiving week. The squad will have six non-conference games at DeGol Arena for the first time since the 2007-08 season. 

"I am excited about the schedule we were able to put together for the 2022-2023 season," said Krimmel, who is entering his 11th season as head coach. "Being able to play six non-conference home games is something that we have not been able to do in a long time. Coach Andrew Helton did a phenomenal job helping to put together a schedule that will help prepare us for the Northeast Conference (NEC)."

The Red Flash will ignite its 127th season in program history at Saint Bonaventure on Nov. 7 on the road. The squad will open the season on the road for the 11th-straight season under Krimmel.

Saint Francis will face its fellow Franciscan university for the 44th time in program history and the first time since the two teams squared off in the 2016-17 season opener. In addition, it will be the second meeting to open the season in program history. CoVID-19-related issues canceled the scheduled battle to open the 2019-20 season. It will also be the fourth-straight time Saint Francis will face the Bonnies on the road.

The squad will then make its 2022-23 DeGol Arena debut and start a stretch of playing five of the next six games at home. The Red Flash starts this span against Hartford in the second edition of the Jack Phelan Classic on Nov. 12. The two teams began the Jack Phelan Classic last season in Hartford in honor of Phelan, who is in the Saint Francis Hall of Fame as a student-athlete and the Hartford Hall of Fame as a pioneer thanks to his time as a head coach with the Hawks. Phelan holds the DeGol Arena record for points in a game with 42 against Duquesne on Jan. 14, 1977. Saint Francis leads the series with Hartford 2-1 after taking last year's meeting 81-66, and the two teams will meet in Loretto for the first time since 2009-10.

 "One of the games that I am most looking forward to is our game against Hartford," said Krimmel. "This will be the second edition of the Jack Phelan Classic, and it will be our opportunity to honor and remember Jack for all his contributions to Saint Francis Basketball." 

Cornell will make its third-ever visit to Loretto on Nov. 14 and the first since the 2012-13 season. The Big Red holds a 5-4 edge in the series after winning last year's meeting in New York.

A road game at Butler on Nov. 18 breaks up the homestand. It will be the second-ever meeting against the Bulldogs and the first since the 1975-76 season, a 67-63 loss to Butler. In addition, it will be the 34th time Saint Francis will face a Big East opponent.

Saint Francis will then spend Thanksgiving week at home with contests against Lehigh (Nov. 21), Franciscan (Nov.23), and American (Nov. 26).

It will be the 10th time in 11 years under Krimmel that the Red Flash will face Lehigh and American. Lehigh appears on the schedule for the 19th time in team history, with the Red Flash winning four of the last six meetings and the previous three tilts at DeGol Arena. The Loretto program will face American for the 24th time in program history, with Saint Francis holding an 8-4 edge at home. Franciscan is on the schedule for the fifth time in the last six seasons, with Saint Francis leading the series, 29-9.

The month of November wraps up with the squad's first trip to Bucknell since 2013-14 on Nov. 30. It will be the 31st meeting with the Bison dating back to the 1926-27 season.

Last season, the Red Flash spent most of December on the road, and the tradition continues in 2022-23 with five of the six non-conference games on the road.

The month begins at Ohio State on Dec. 4 for the first meeting against the Buckeyes since 2009-10. It will be the 13th meeting against the Big Ten in team history.

Saint Francis returns to Loretto to host Saint Vincent on Dec. 8. This season marks the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the Stokes Center, and the first-ever game in the then-new gymnasium was an 83-60 win against Saint Vincent on Dec. 4, 1972. It will be the first meeting against the Bearcats since 1975-76, with Saint Francis holding a 51-14 advantage against the neighboring school separated by 53 miles.

After the game against Saint Vincent, Saint Francis will spend several days in the state of Hawaii with a game against Hawaii on Dec. 11. It will not be the Red Flash's first trip to the 50th state after the team played at Chaminade and Hawaii-Hilo in the 1975-76 season.

Saint Francis returns to the mainland but stays in the warmer climate at Miami on Dec. 17. It will be the third meeting against the Hurricanes and the first since 2001-02. It will be the first time the two teams will meet since Miami joined the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The game will be the 20th against the ACC, while the Red Flash has a win against the conference after defeating Pittsburgh to open the 2020-21 season.

For the second-straight year, Saint Francis will wrap up its non-conference slate against former NEC foe Robert Morris on Dec. 21. It will be the second non-conference meeting between the two squads since the Colonials moved to the Horizon League and the 91st meeting all time. It will also be the first game between the two programs in Moon Township since the 2019-20 NEC Championship Game.

The NEC will announce the 16-game conference slate in August. The schedule will feature a home-and-home schedule in the now nine-team league and the first-ever meetings against Stonehill College, who joins the league in 2022-23.

Saint Francis has advanced to the league postseason in nine of the 10 seasons under Krimmel, including playing in the championship bout in 2016-17, 2018-19 and 2019-20.