By Nick Veronica

The Big 4 Basketball Classic returns to First Niagara Center on Dec. 17, putting all four of Western New York’s Division I basketball teams under one roof on the same day.

St. Bonaventure and Niagara open the event at 1 p.m., with UB and Canisius to follow. That game will be Canisius coach Reggie Witherspoon’s first matchup against his former school.

The event marks the fifth time all four teams will get together in downtown Buffalo. They played in 1996, 1997 and 1998, but the event then lapsed until November 2014. There was no event last season.

Teams will again wear throwback jerseys for the event, though this time they will be jerseys the team previously wore instead of Buffalo Braves-themed throwbacks (pictured above). Fans can vote for the jersey they want their team to wear via each school’s website.

===
Vote: Buffalo Canisius Niagara St. Bonaventure
===

Tickets, good for both games, start at $25, with floor seats starting at $35. They are available through Tickets.com, at the First Niagara Center Box Office or by phone at 1-888-223-6000.

UB beat Canisius at First Niagara Center in 2014, 72-57, while St. Bonaventure beat Niagara, 74-59.