ATLANTA -- The University of Dayton men's basketball team will play in Mississippi State on Saturday, Dec. 12, when the Flyers are part of the four-game portion of the Holiday Hoopsgiving charity event.  

This is the seventh year for the Holiday Hoopsgiving.  Originally one of the premier high school events staged over Thanksgiving weekend, it is now expanding to include some of the top collegiate programs in Division I.  The event is organized by The VIII Group, and proceeds are distributed to various charities in the southeast.

The quadruple-header will be played at State Farm Arena, the home of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks.  

"We are excited to be a part of the 2020 Holiday Hoopsgiving in Atlanta," Dayton coach Anthony Grant said.  "It will be a great test for our guys against an always=talented Mississippi State program led by Coach Howland.  We are looking forward to playing in front of our fans in Atlanta and the southeast."  

The other three matchups on Dec. 12 will consist of games between Clemson and Alabama, LSU and South Florida, and Auburn versus Memphis.

This will be just UD's second game in Georgia.  The first was on Nov. 12, 2013 when the Flyers beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta 82-72.  Dayton is 25-20 all-time against teams from the SEC, but is 0-3 against the Bulldogs.  The three losses are by a total of 11 points – 56-54 on Dec. 19, 1975 in Dayton, 61-59 on Dec. 3, 2017 in Starkville, and 65-58 on Nov. 30, 2018 in Dayton.  The first meeting came in the UDIT holiday tourney.

Dayton was 29-2 in 2019-20, setting the school record for most wins even though UD did not get a chance to play any post-season games.  Dayton ended the year ranked third in the nation and will carry a 20-game win streak into 2020-21, the longest active streak in Division I.  UD won its third A-10 regular season championship in the last five years, but this season went undefeated (18-0) for the first time.

Grant was the consensus national Coach of the Year, earning that honor from the Atlanta Tip-Off Club (Naismith Trophy), the NABC (Henry Iba Award), the USBWA, the Associated Press, The Sporting News, Fox Sports and CBSsports.com.  

Mississippi State was 20-11 in 2019-20.

Both teams currently have three players from last year who have declared for the NBA draft.

All travel packages and game tickets for Holiday Hoopsgiving will be available at a later date. Fans can stay up to date on information at http://theviigroup.net/.

Game times and television broadcast information will also be released at a later date.