Arkansas to Play in #BIG12SEC Challenge Saturday
Game Notes (PDF) | Mike Anderson Presser | Hannahs/Watkins Presser
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas men’s basketball team (10-10) will take a break from conference play Saturday afternoon, welcoming Texas Tech (12-7) to town as part of the #BIG12SEC Challenge. Tip-off in Bud Walton Arena is slated for 3 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
Tip-off: Saturday, Jan. 30 at 3 p.m. CT
Location: Bud Walton Arena (Fayetteville, Ark.)
TV: ESPNU | WatchESPN
Tickets: Click Here
Promotions: Liberty Bowl poster giveaway and photo opportunity with trophy on West Concourse starting at 1:30 p.m.
#LaceUpForLacey: Details » #SuitsAndSneakers
The Opponent
• The Red Raiders, from Lubbock, Texas, are 12-7 on the year with a 2-6 record in Big 12 play. Texas Tech visits Fayetteville as a part of the third annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Through non-conference play, the Red Raiders stood at 10-1 with notable wins over Mississippi State, Minnesota and Richmond. Of the seven Texas Tech losses, six were to ranked teams, including against No. 1 Kansas on Jan. 9 and at No. 1 Oklahoma on Jan. 26. This will be the first time the Red Raiders and Razorbacks have ever played in Bud Walton Arena.
• Texas Tech is one of the more balanced teams in the country, as six players average at least 7.1 points per game. Devaugntah Williams leads the way with 12.5 points per game, while Toddrick Gotcher also averages double figures, contributing 10.7 points per contest. Those two senior guards have combined to make 60 of the Red Raiders 103 three-pointers on the season. As a team, Texas Tech leads the Big 12 by shooting 74.9 percent from the charity stripe, making an average of 18.1 foul shots per game.
• Head coach Tubby Smith is in his third season in Lubbock, and has a 39-44 (.470) record in two-plus seasons with the Red Raiders. In his head-coaching career, Smith has amassed 550 victories between stops at Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota and now Texas Tech. At Kentucky, the Wildcats won the 1998 National Championship in his first year at the school. Smith became the first head coach since Cincinnati’s Ed Jucker to win a title in his first season. In October 2015, he was announced as the 18th recipient of the John R. Wooden “Legends of Coaching” Award.
#Fastest40 Facts
• Entering the third annual #BIG12SEC Challenge, Arkansas is 0-1 all-time in the event, falling to Iowa State last season in a battle of top 20 teams.
• Arkansas has the third-most home wins in the country during the Mike Anderson era, posting a record of 76-10 in Bud Walton Arena over the last four-plus seasons.
• The Razorbacks are the only team in the nation with three players averaging at least 16 points per game with Hannahs (16.7), Bell (16.6) and Kingsley (16.5).
• Arkansas is one of three Power Five Conference schools in the country with 50-plus made treys by two players. Anthlon Bell (61) and Dusty Hannahs (52) are joined by Syracuse and Michigan State. #SplashZone
• The Razorbacks have won 30 of their last 31 non-conference games in BWA, including a 45-1 mark under Anderson against unranked non-SEC teams.
• Moses Kingsley is one of eight Power Five Conference players in the country with 10 double-doubles this season.
• The Abuja, Nigera, native is one of two players in the nation with multiple games of 20 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. (Pascal Siakam – New Mexico State)
• Kingsley is one of six Power Five Conference players in the country averaging 16 points per game nine rebounds per contest.
• Jabril Durham has five-plus assists in 18 straight games, the longest such streak by an Arkansas player since joining the SEC in 1991-92.
• #JaBrilliant is the only player in the country with five-plus assists in 18 straight games this season.
• The Razorbacks are No. 4 in the country in three-point field goal percentage at .431, sitting only behind Oklahoma, Saint Mary’s and Indiana.
• Arkansas is 7-3 all-time against AP top five teams in BWA, including back-to-back wins against No. 5 Texas A&M Wednesday night and No. 2 Florida in 2013.
Series Notes
• Texas Tech leads the series 39-38, but Arkansas has won eight of the last 10 meetings.
• Since 1991, the programs have only met twice and both times at neutral locations. Arkansas defeated the Red Raiders in Dallas in 2005 and Texas Tech returned the favor a year later with a victor in Little Rock.
• Arkansas has been ranked in 17 of the last 35 meetings with Texas Tech.
• The Razorbacks have three 30 point games against Texas Tech with two of those coming from Joe Kleine during the 1985 season and one coming from Tommy Boyer in 1963.
Up Next
Arkansas returns to SEC Play on Wednesday, Feb. 3, traveling to Gainesville to battle the Florida Gators. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
For more information on Arkansas men’s basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on Twitter.
