Walt Beazley

Men's Basketball Hosts Akron for Wednesday Tip

Game Notes (PDF)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas men’s basketball team looks to start 2-0 for the sixth straight season Wednesday evening, hosting Akron inside Bud Walton Arena as part of the NIT Season Tip-Off.

Tipoff: 7 p.m. CT
Tickets: Buy Here
Live Stats: Click Here
TV: SECN+

The Opponent
The Zips from Akron, Ohio, play in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Akron finished seventh in the MAC last season, but advanced to the third round of the conference tournament before losing to eventual champion Buffalo in the semifinals. Overall, the team went 21-14, including notable non-conference wins over USC and South Carolina.

Akron returns 75 percent of its scoring from last season, including senior center Pat Forsythe and sophomore guard Noah Robotham, who each averaged 9.9 points per game. As a team, the Zips hit 9.4 three-pointers per game in 2014-15 and six players averaged at least one per game. Of those six players, five return to play for the 2015-16 season.

Quotables
“We have a team coming in here that is really, really good. Akron is a team that returns four starters from a team that won 21 games. Coach Dambrot does a tremendous job; I have always admired watching his team from afar. Their big guys are really skilled. It’s a team that has a lot of depth. It is going to a heck of a ball game. It is going to be a big time challenge for our team with the inexperience that we have. It could quite possibly be their experience versus our inexperience but it should be a great ball game as we start the preseason NIT.” – Mike Anderson

#Fastest40 Facts
The Razorbacks have won 54 consecutive games at home against unranked non-conference opponents, including a perfect 40-0 mark under Anderson.

Arkansas is 40-1 in non-conference games in bud Walton Arena under head coach Mike Anderson, including 25 straight wins. The only non-conference loss at home under Anderson came against Syracuse in 2012-13.

Mike Anderson is looking to start 2-0 for the 14th time in as many years as a head coach. He has never lost the first or second game of the year.

The Razorbacks have never faced Akron, but are 4-0 all-time against current teams from the Mid-American Conference, defeating Central Michigan (2006), Eastern Michigan (2004), Kent State (1981) and Toledo (1962).

Arkansas is 7-2 all-time on Nov. 18, including a 107-69 victory over Portland State in 2005 when Dontel Jefferson tied the program’s single-game record with 15 assists.

 Arkansas is playing in its fourth NIT Season Tip-Off in school history, holding a record of 5-3 all-time in the tournament. The Razorbacks are 4-2 in the NIT Tip-Off in Fayetteville and next week’s trip to New York will be the second semifinal appearance.

Tickets
Lower level and upper level donor locations for season tickets are also still available. For information on those locations, please contact the Razorback Ticket Center at 800-982-4647. To purchase online click here.

For more information on Arkansas men’s basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on Twitter.