VESTAL, N.Y. - On Jan. 31, 2004, the $38 million 156,000-square-foot, six-story Events Center opened with a men's basketball game against Hartford. In the 20 years since, the facility has served as home to the 21-sport NCAA Division I athletics program but also has been a showcase facility for external events, including sports and entertainment, commencement and community events.

The anniversary will be celebrated Thursday night when the men's team hosts NJIT at 6:07 p.m.. All fans will receive a commemorative magnet. 

Here is a list of some of the greatest moments in the building's 20 years. How many were you here for??

No. 10
Dec. 13, 2007 and Dec. 30, 2007 – In a two-week span, the Bearcats host and beat a pair of Atlantic-10 Conference teams. First up was a 71-59 win over George Washington (in front of 3,022) with senior forward Lazar Trifunovic leading the way with 23 points. It was the program's first-ever win over an A-10 team. Then BU made it two wins with a 64-59 win over St. Bonaventure in front of 3,934 fans, many of whom had ties to Bona. Trifunivic again scored 23 points and BU went 8-for-8 from the line in the final 49 seconds.

No. 9
February 21, 2012 – a 57-53 win over league-leading and eventual AE champion Vermont, who entered the game on a 10-game win streak. Junior guard Jimmy Gray made two free throws with four seconds left to clinch the win and snap BU's 27-game losing streak. Many in the crowd of 2,427 rushed the floor to celebrate.

No. 8
November 23, 2022 – an 81-79 comeback win over Columbia after BU defied the odds by scoring six points in the final five seconds. Jacob Falko drained a 23-footer to pull BU to within one, 79-78. On the ensuing Columbia inbounds, McGriff stole the ball, stepped behind the line in the left corner and swished a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left to give the Bearcats an 81-79 lead. Columbia's final 78-foot heave at the buzzer was off the backboard. The comeback went viral on social media with more than 900K views of the final six-second sequence.

No. 7
January 25, 2006 – 61-60 double overtime win over reigning AE champion Vermont in front of a season-high 4,450. Senior forward Sebastian Hermenier scored all 17 of his points from FT line (17-of-20), including 4-of-4 in the second OT. It was the longest game in EC history.

No. 6
January 31, 2007 – a 66-65 win over Stony Brook in front of 3,121. With just 0.6 seconds left and trailing by one, senior guard Mike Gordon banked an inbounds pass off a Seawolves' defender's back and converted the game-winning layup as the horn sounded. The play was No. 6 on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays. It was Gordon's second buzzer-beating bucket in the last five games as he also did it two weeks earlier at Hartford.  

No. 5
March 4, 2006 – America East Quarterfinals – a 71-62 win over #7 Maine. Second-seeded BU used a decisive 10-0 late run to push past the Black Bears in front of 4,407 to reach the AE semifinals for the second straight year. Senior guard Andre Heard scored a game-high 24 points (19 in second half) and junior forward Duane James added a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. BU led by two with 7:40 left before pulling away with the run.

No. 4
March 5, 2005 – America East Quarterfinals – 76-70 win over #4 Albany. It was BU's first-ever America East tournament win and a satisfying one against heated SUNY rival Albany. Sophomore guard Troy Hailey scored a game-high 19 points and junior guard Andre Heard added 18 to lead the fifth-seeded Bearcats. In the closing minutes, BU saw its 14-point cushion trimmed to three before Heard (1 FT) and junior forward Sebastian Hermenier (2 FT) made free throws in the final seven seconds.   

No. 3
February 26, 2009 – Regular season finale in front of 5,222 – a 71-51 win over UMBC that clinched BU's first-ever conference regular season title and gave them the #1 seed for the upcoming tournament. Against the reigning AE champion Retrievers, BU led by eight at half and scored 44 second-half points to pull away. Junior guard Tiki Mayben led five double-digit scorers with a game-high 18 points. Students stormed the floor to celebrate as the Bearcats guaranteed themselves their first national tournament bid (either NIT or NCAA) as a Division I conference regular season champion. 

No. 2
January 31, 2004 – inaugural game – 75-68 win over Hartford in front of a sellout crowd of 4,660. Senior guard Brandon Carter scored 27 points and junior center Nick Billings added 13 rebounds, 10 blocks and eight points. Carter scored 24 of his points in the second half and sealed the historic win with eight free throws in the final 38 seconds. The atmosphere was electric in the $33.1 million facility, with the official, 4,460 capacity boosted by an additional 200 SRO fans along the Concourse. More than 1,200 students packed the south end bleachers. The first game capped a 5+ year timeline that began when Governor George Pataki approved a capital plan in April 1998 that included $26 million for the six-story, 156,000 square-foot fieldhouse. The design phase began in 1999, official groundbreaking took place in June 2000 and the first roof truss was secured in 2001. 

No. 1
March 14, 2009 – America East Championship Game on ESPN2. A 61-51 win over reigning AE champion UMBC. The win, BU's 11^th consecutive (third-longest in the nation at the time), set off a wild celebration on the court as many of the SRO 5,342 poured onto the floor to celebrate the program's first NCAA tournament bid in 63 years of basketball at the school. The crowd was a school record and was the second-largest in the league's 30-year championship history. Senior forward Reggie Fuller had a game-high 19 points with 10 rebounds and tournament Most Outstanding Player DJ Rivera added 16 points and BU's defense held UMBC scoreless over the game's final five minutes to seal the historic win. The championship win sent the Bearcats to the NCAAs and a first-round game five days later against No. 2 seed Duke in front of 20,000 fans in Greensboro, N.C. 
 

Honorable Mention
March 5, 2006 – America East Semifinals – a 66-59 loss to #6 Vermont. After going 12-4 in league play, second-seeded BU suffered a heartbreaking defeat to reigning champion Vermont despite opening the game with a 20-5 lead. In front of 4,445, BU got a game-high 24 points from senior guard Andre Heard but the visiting Catamounts benefited from a season-ending injury to BU senior captain and AE Defender of the Year Sebastian Hermenier and used their size advantage to own the boards and get to the free throw line, where their 24-of-33 makes was the difference.

March 6, 2005 – America East Semifinals – a 76-65 loss to #1 Vermont in front of a deafening crowd of 5,003. This was a Vermont team that won the AE title and defeated Syracuse in the NCAA first round. Binghamton led 25-21 midway through the first half before Vermont ended the half with a 20-8 run and fended off BU the rest of the way. Senior center Alex Adediran scored a career-high 21 points in his final collegiate game and junior guard Andre Heard added 20 points.    

February 22, 2009 – a 70-69 overtime win over New Hampshire in front of a sellout crowd of 5,222. Senior forward Reggie Fuller tallied 22 points and 10 rebounds and junior guard DJ Rivera added 21 points and six steals. Junior Tiki Mayben hit a tying 3-pointer with 26 seconds left in regulation to cap a BU comeback from eight points down in the closing four minutes. In OT, BU made five free throws in the final 2:41 to seal the win.

January 8, 2009 – a 91-83 overtime win over Vermont in front of 3,404. Junior guard D.J. Rivera produced 29 points, 12 rebounds and six steals and the Bearcats made 4-of-6 shots in the overtime to knock off the Catamounts and start a rare season sweep of Vermont.
 

Other Notable Moments
America East Men's Basketball tournaments (first three rounds) – 2005, 2006, 2008
America East Women's Basketball tournaments (first three rounds) – 2007, 2015, 2016

June 25, 2004 – Harrick Connick, Jr. concert
February 11, 2005 – Track & Field hosts hosts Albany in the first-ever indoor home dual meet
April 2, 2005 – Men's tennis defeats America East rival Hartford 5-1 in the first-ever full tennis match held at the Events Center
April 27, 2005 – Green Day concert
September 23, 2005 – Ludracris concert
March 9, 2007 – Women's basketball rallies from 17 points down to defeat Boston University 63-58 in the America East quarterfinals
February 22, 2008 – Foo Fighters concert
March 27, 2009 – Comedian John Stewart performance
October 1, 2010 – Drake concert
November 17, 2010 – Bob Dylan concert
September 7-21, 2011 – Events Center serves as an American Red Cross shelter for more than 1,700 area residents who were forced to evacuate their homes due to flooding. It was Broome County's largest shelter and provided food and cots for the victims, many elderly. More than 10,000 residents were evacuated after the historic flooding of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers, which came just five years after the devastating flooding in June 2006 
December 4, 2011 – Wiz Khalifa concert
October 27, 2012 – Comedian Louis Black performance
November 30, 2017 – Post Malone concert
February 17, 2018 – Women's basketball senior Imani Watkins breaks all-time scoring record of 2,024 points against UMass Lowell
March 20, 2018 – Women's basketball hosts Yale in the second round of the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI), falling 70-64. It's the first time Binghamton has hosted a national Division I tournament in any sport
March 8-9, 2019 – Wrestling hosts the prestigious EIWA Championship – the sport's NCAA qualifier. Sixteen teams converge on the Events Center and BU places sixth with four NCAA qualifiers.
August 25, 2023 – Volleyball competes at the Events Center for the first time and defeats Merrimack 3-0 to open the Bearcat Classic