Men's Basketball Opens SEC Play at Texas A&M
Game Notes (PDF) | Mike Anderson Press Conference
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas men’s basketball team (6-6, 0-0) is set to open its 25th season of SEC play Saturday afternoon, traveling to College Station for a 3:30 p.m. tip-off with No. 20 Texas A&M (10-2, 0-0) in Reed Arena on SEC Network.
Tip-off: Saturday, Jan. 2 at 3:30 p.m. CT
Location: Reed Arena (College Station, Texas)
TV: SEC Network | WatchESPN
The Opponent
• The Aggies and the Razorbacks open SEC play against each other for the third time in the last four years with all three meetings coming in College Station. No. 20 Texas A&M is on a three-game win streak with victories over K-State (78-68), Baylor (80-61) and most recently Cal Poly (82-63) on Tuesday night. Earlier in the season in the Battle 4 Atlantis, the Aggies defeated Texas (84-73) and No. 10 Gonzaga (62-61) before losing to Syracuse (74-67) in the title game.
• Senior guard Danuel House leads the Aggies with 15.3 points and 2.5 threes per game. Texas A&M also has four other players averaging at least one three-pointer per game and, as a team, average eight made treys per contest. The Aggies have senior swing forward Jalen Jones (14.9) and freshman center Tyler Davis (12.3) contributing double-figure scoring. As a team, Texas A&M is 27th in the country with a plus-15.4 scoring margin and eighth with 19.3 assists per game.
• Head coach Billy Kennedy is in his fifth season at Texas A&M, with a record of 81-63 (.562) in four-plus seasons. Before coming to College Station, Kennedy was the head coach at Murray State, leading the Racers to back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) titles and a combined 54-14 record in 2010 and 2011; he was also named OVC Coach of the Year in both seasons. In 17-plus seasons as a head coach, Kennedy boasts a 291-242 (.544) record, including stops at Southeastern Louisiana for six years and Centenary for two.
#Fastest40 Facts
• Arkansas is 14-10 all-time in SEC openers, including a 4-7 mark on the road. The Razorbacks will play their fourth straight conference opener on the road with three of those coming in College Station.
• Over the last 25 SEC regular season games dating back to 2013-14, Arkansas has a record of 19-6, the second-best mark in the SEC behind Kentucky (21-4), while Texas A&M ranks fifth (14-11).
• Arkansas is 98-53 all-time against Texas A&M, including a 1-4 record when the Aggies have been ranked the AP Top 25.
• Jabril Durham is one of six players in the country with four double-digit assist games this season. He has four of the nine double-digit assist performances in the SEC this year and ranks No. 5 in the nation with 7.5 assists per game.
• Arkansas’ last five opponents have entered the game with a combined record of 51-13 (Includes A&M).
• Dusty Hannahs leads the SEC with a .930 free throw percentage, making 40-of-43 attempts on the year. He ranks No. 8 in the country and No. 2 among power five conference program.
• The Razorbacks have made at least four three-pointers in 55 of the last 60 games dating back to the 2013-14 season.
Kingsley’s Corner
• Moses Kingsley is the only power five conference player in the country averaging at least 15 points, 10 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.
• He is the first Razorback in 30 years with eight double-doubles through the first 12 games.
• Kingsley is one of 26 players in the country averaging a double-double, including one of 12 individuals from a power five conference.
• His eight double-doubles is tied for the eighth-most in the country and second-most in the SEC behind LSU’s Ben Simmons (9).
• Kingsley is one of eight players in the nation with five-plus blocks in three different games this year.
• The Abuja, Nigera native is one of two players in the country with multiple games of 20 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.
Up Next
Arkansas returns home to host Vanderbilt on Tuesday, Jan. 5 at 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
For more information on Arkansas men’s basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on Twitter.
